Italian composer and former Nine Inch Nails member Alessandro Cortini releases with “Volume Massimo” the follow-up to 2017s “Avanti”. It’s his debut on Mute Records. “Volume Massimo”, combines his fondness for melody with the rigour of experimental practice that follows on from 2017’s universally acclaimed album “Avanti”.
With “Volume Massimo” Cortini switches to a more melodic, polished sound compared to his previews works for Hospital Records between 2013-2015. This will be shortly known after the first tracks into it. It starts with the classic synthesizer driven “Amore Amaro”. It set the direction on “Volume Massimo” clearly and Cortini himself described it as following: “The best way to listen to it, is at maximum volume”. In generall the new album sounds very accessible. Unfortunately this leads to an uncommon issue. Besides the album opener “Amore Amaro”, the massive album core track “Batticuore” and the darker toned “Sabbia” there are less outstanding moments on “Volume Massimo”. This does’t mean you can’t enjoy this record, but in the end it isn’t Cortini’s best work until now. But it wasn’t that easy because of his gorgeous predecessors “Sonno”, “Risveglio” and the two track EP, “SPIE”. Therefore tracks like “Passatempo” and “Est” are still Cortini’s best. All of this sounds a bit disappointed if you look at “Volume Massimo”, but if you know him from his live sets there is still a chance that all of it sounds better in front of an audiance.
_space_for_reviews_ 