Klimt 1918 "Undressed Momento"

::: Review taken from Decibels Storm, July 2003 - Album of the week :::



It seems that behind this monicker hides kind of a reason: the painter Gustav Klimt died in 1918. Why having chosen such a name? The biography doesn't say it. So this band is interested in making a music that is good enough to leave aside the lil' obscure snobbery that betrays the choice of its monicker.
The first surprise is that the vocalist's got the same voice as Sting that, in the metal sphere, is rather hard to find. And this voice 'sticks' relatively well with the music, which is pretty quiet, winking at the kindness pop of Porcupine Tree, nevertheless with some rich passages of guitar of great effect. Therefore we are in the presence of  a band by the progressive vocation which has however the good taste of avoiding technical demonstrations and, generally, some gimmicks that nowadays makes heavy this kind of music.
These intelligent and sometimes touching songs are moreover remarkably favoured by a humble and without boasting production. If it wasn't for some words in Italian here and there in the lyrics and an English by the bad pronunciation, we could therefore say that this record is of absolute good tate, that can moderately alternate light passages and heavier riffs. We should be also grateful to Klimt 1918 for creating delicate sceneries without applying too much to the keyboards. To crown this whole of elegance, the band dares to dye its music of a 80's gothich-wave fatality that increases its own credibility.
This record will conquer all those who love emotional but never soppy music. Truly a beautiful work.

(Alexis Kieffer)