Spiritual front

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Spiritual front
Spiritual Front 2014 in Padua
Spiritual Front 2014 in Padua
General information
origin Rome , Italy
Genre (s) Neofolk , post-punk , dark cabaret
founding 1999
Website www.spiritualfront.com
Founding members
Simone Salvatori
Current occupation
Vocals, guitar
 Simone Salvatori
Giorgio Maria Condemi
Federico Amorosi
Andrea Freddy Nio
former members
Electric guitar
 Jack Puri
Piano, keyboard
 Sten Puri
Piano, keyboard
 Piergiorgio Ambrosi

Spiritual Front is an Italian music group and was founded in Rome in the late 1990s by singer and guitarist Simone Salvatori. The music moves between neofolk , post-punk and dark cabaret . The band itself ironically describes their style as nihilist suicide pop.

Other members are Giorgio Maria Condemi (electric guitar), Sten Puri (piano and keyboard), Piergiorgio Ambrosi (piano and keyboard), Jack Puri (electric guitar) and Andrea Freddy Nio (drums).

Style and musical development

Simone Salvatori at the Casemate Festival 2016

The band's first releases were primarily based on repetitive and minimalist acoustic guitars as well as samples and field recordings that were added like collages . Exemplary for this are the interludes in the style of lounge music on the 2001 “Nihilist Cocktails” album. At first the singing was rather recitative and only partially melodic. Only with the album “Armageddon Gigolo” recorded in 2006, which was recorded together with musicians from the Ennio Morricone Orchestra, did the sound change towards more melody, rhythm and opulence . The rock 'n roll attitude that existed from the start (Salvatori also uses the nickname "Hellvis") came to the fore more clearly. The band likes to play covers of their favorite musicians, u. a. songs by Johnny Cash or Sol Invictus were reinterpreted.

Spiritual Front maintain an image of politically incorrect provocateurs, pretend to be strongly sexualized in their lyrics, their artwork and in their media appearances, and prefer to spread “typically Italian” machismo clichés. They also use, for. B. in the title of individual songs, often conceptual stereotypes of a nihilistic or apocalyptic worldview that alternates between provocation and serious discussion of religious questions. However, all these aspects appear self-ironically broken by humorous exaggeration and the self-referential show character of the performance. In this context, the band name, with its references to spirituality and war , acts , if not consistently, as a tongue-in-cheek parody of mentality aspects of the neo-folk scene.

As a live act, the band is not only popular with neo-folk and post-industrial audiences but also in other independent scenes, such as the Gothic scene. Spiritual Front had various live appearances at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig (2000, 2004, 2006, 2011).

Discography (selection)

Simone Salvatori at the Amphi Festival 2016

Albums

  • 1999: Songs for the Will
  • 2001: Nihilist Cocktails for Calypso Inferno
  • 2005: Satyriasis - Somewhere Between Equilibrium and Nihilism (with Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio )
  • 2006: Armageddon Gigolo
  • 2010: Rotten Roma Casino
  • 2013: Open Wounds
  • 2013: Black Hearts in Black Suits
  • 2018: Amour Braque

Singles and EPs

  • 2002: Twin a Tin Tin Towers (MCD)
  • 2003: Nihilist (10 ")
  • 2003: No Kisses on the Mouth (7 ")
  • 2005: Bedtime / Badtime (split with Naevus 10 "-Picture Disc)

Web links

Commons : Spiritual Front  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ WGT - artist line-up 2000 ff.