The dark indulgences of ‘Blind Fool Love - La Strage Di Cupido’

So, I’ve had a bit of a shitty week. I’m sure that it’s been a similar thing for some of you as well. I don’t know about you, but I’m someone who needs to be busy and productive. I need to be able to create something. This week hasn’t exactly been fruitful for creative art stuff. But I remembered something that my boyfriend said, about how great artists go back to nature for influences in their work. So I tried to do the same… Not that it helped very much.

But there’s still a review to do, which is something! So I decided to try and apply a similar theme for this week’s band. Something that reminded me of nature. Something to do with spring… This again was a bit of a struggle. So instead I chose to think of a band that would make me feel better. Something that’s a bit of a guilty pleasure. A bit of a treat to release the inner Gothic kid within... That band is Blind Fool Love.

So to fill you in a little, Blind Fool Love were a Post-Hardcore band from Tuscany who formed in 2005, yet only lasted a startling seven years before splitting up in 2012. Any other information on them is lacking at best. Despite being able to find many photos and songs via a quick Google/YouTube search, there’s very little I can say about this band’s personal history. But there are some things that can be figured out with a little guesswork. As far as I can see, they started out as a group of Gothic scene kids who came about at the right time, but perhaps in the wrong place. Their lyrical content played around with the morbid attraction, shock value and emotional relativity of death, blood and guts and crying your eyes out in the rain, all moaned about over a Screamo based Heavy Rock sound usually found in bands such as Black Veil Brides and I Am Ghost. Their earlier material displays a height of angst and ‘Rip Your Heart Out’ antics, yet are lacking a little in maturity. But I think some of that began to peel away in time. I imagine Blind Fool Love continued to refine and rework their style, and before long, they were rewarded with the creation and release of their first and only studio album, ‘La Strage Di Cupido’.

This singular album continued to root itself in the band’s Screamo/Heavy Rock simplicity as a staple foundation, yet it’s easy openness allows the songs to take in instrumental influences and formats from a variety of different styles. Whether it be down to the members welcoming in the dramatic flair of Italian culture, whether it be a running theme of conceptual experimentation, or whether it be a growing musicianship of the band members; every track is written for the sake of dark, beautiful glory, adding and taking all that is necessary to create well rounded music. For me this is an album of the highest indulgence. I remember listening to Blind Fool Love when I was nineteen, and enjoying personal favourites like ‘Vampiro’ and ‘Il Pianto’ while making artwork. But when I actually found out that they’d released an album and that I could access it easily on YouTube, it was an absolute treat! I felt so blessed and grateful that I’d been able to find something so delicious and stylised. So, to demonstrate what I’m talking about, let me give you a track by track run down of the songs on this chocolate cake of an album!

We begin with the album’s title track, ‘La Strage Di Cupido’, which eases in softly with verses of Mediterranean chords, rattles and strings, (As well as the lead singer’s raspy, Italian singing) before exploding into a heavy Classical and Choral inspired chorus and bridge, punctuated only by commas and full stops of Post-Hardcore chugging. The second track, ‘Natura Morta’ starts and finishes with Spoken word, but the song itself is packed with brooding, eat your heart out, teenage Metalcore that only takes a break from the scream fest for a brief interlude of a snazzy jazz inspired guitar solo. This song has a strong Visual Kei feel to it, which is perfect for angsty young fans to lash out and cry over. ‘Com’eri Un Tempo’ follows this as the most Progressive song on the album, making use of Blind Fool Love's favourite 3/3 barring and Mediterranean themes to take you on a profound and experimental journey. Almost all of the emotional strings of this piece are held in the throat of the lead singer, whose voice tugs at every acre of your mind and heart, while the strolling footsteps of the instruments push your body to it’s final frontier.

My personal favourite ‘Il Pianto’ beautifully sews Chamber music and Emo together with gut-wrenching singing, Medieval and Heavy Rock inspired strumming and chugging, and the appropriately laced in choir with woodwind and string instruments that’ll take you back in time to an emotional Tudor court. ‘Balli A Ritmo Nucleare’ is a snappy, quick, party song with head butting guitars and dangerous bass and drums for its undertone. This song kicks in with a hard, Glam Metal attitude that weaves into a catchy Disco beat chorus, before dropping like a stone into a murky drink of a bridge, overcast with Extreme Metal inspired gang vocals. But ‘Saranno Giorni’ yanks us back to earth with its treading bangs, heavy bass prods, and whiny twangs, while keeping you focused with weird synth samples, piano tracks, and a fast, slimy race off before clunking into its finish line. 

We then swing in for a brief rest with ‘La Ballata Della Farfalla Melitaea’ which is probably the most Classical inspired song on the album. Despite additional sampling, it makes full use of traditional strings, woodwinds, and piano before crashing into the chorus with typical Rock music instruments. This is a bittersweet ballad, aching with heartbreak and loneliness that will end miserably. The next track, ‘Vampiro’ speaks highly of the band’s fascination with vampires, as the music creeps in dangerously, warning you of what’s to come. But before you can escape, it’s sluggishly sunk its teeth into you and then mocks you with it’s disrespectful, Screamo tinged cadence and rising cacophony of spiraling riffs.

‘La Canzone Della Guerra’ takes us away from the nightmare with soothing xylophone, before throwing us right into a more brutal Metalcore Waltz. There’s no escape from its dangers as every surface is covered with scratchy screams,  (Both piercingly high and demonically low) and a bass line and 3/3 you could compare with the jumping and declining of your heartbeat. It comes off far more like the final song of the album than it should. But then, what do you know? ‘I Viali D’Inverno’ arrives for its final call, stomping onto the stage like a stereophonic monster. It picks at itself with its soft rhythm and Gothic Metal inspired synth during the verses, and then dances joyously during the chorus before a quiet last respect, and then… changing it’s key for it’s last, swaggering stomp off stage.

Phew… By heck. Well, that was fun.

From what I've written, you can probably guess that this album has layers to it. Layers that require a bit of inspection. It’s not exactly what I’d call a profound release, but I do think it’s a masterpiece!  This is a strong collection of songs and a highly indulgent album if you’re willing to give it a listen. Coming back to Blind Fool Love after five years has given me the chance to listen to these songs a little closer on a musical and emotional level. And despite how much I enjoy them, it’s easy to see where it has its faults. The main genre of the album, that Post-hardcore/Screamo based style with Gothic influences, isn’t the most mature or even the most respected direction for a lot of music fans. But the construction and crafting of their formats make them open for a variety of different interpretations and additions. Some of the songs on the album do sound rather similar to each other, and I can completely understand if you might think that to be a bit lazy, and even boring. But if anything, it also demonstrates how the album should be heard as a whole, so you yourself can dig out the gems you hear.

Also, yes. They are Italian, and unless you speak Italian yourself, you’re probably not going to understand the lyrics. And it’s true, the lyrics of a song can be very important to the overall music. But I’ll tell you this! Feelings, emotions, love, and drama sound the same in every language, and I have no doubt you’ll be able to hear that within the music itself. This has been a highly indulgent album of substance for me to review this week, and I completely understand if it’s not your favourite. But, if nothing else, I hope reading this has inspired you to think about your own indulgent favourites. You’re guilty pleasures so to speak. Maybe now would be a good time to go back, listen to them again, and inspect them a little further. 

So anyway, for showing interesting promise but ruining it by breaking up too soon, I give Blind Fool Love a 6/10, but I reward their efforts, musicianship, and artistry on ‘La Strange Di Cupido’ with a strong 8/10.

I’ve got to say, this has been a nice return to Blind Fool Love. Maybe I’ll crawl into a dark crypt this weekend and listen to some more Gothic Screamo. Who knows! Maybe I’ll get inspired. Maybe this’ll be my own way of getting back to nature. But don’t worry. Knowing me, I’ll probably pick something very different for the next review. Until then, I’m going to put on my skeleton hoodie, smear on some black eyeliner, and watch something about vampires. I’ll see you all next week.