Fulci - Tropical Sun (2019)Release ID: 15201
Italian death metallers Fulci take their name from Lucio Fulci, an acclaimed Italian actor, screenwriter and director who is noted for his work in the horror genre. Pretty niche, right? Naming your band after your favourite movie star is not something I have come across often and I hope based on this experience I do not have to suffer any further contributions to my watchlist from bands who are besotted with marginalising themselves into one very predictable corner. Before I even knew about the Lucio Fulci link I predicted the exact problem that exists with Tropical Sun based on the artwork alone and then a review of the track listing only further proved this point before I got to playing a single track. Want to open your death metal album with a film excerpt? Fine. Seems almost obligatory after the scene you have set with your artwork. However, multiple tracks opening with/being interrupted by/being entirely dedicated to the film excerpts is just boring and in this instance very disruptive.
The real annoyance is more that Fulci can actually get a real head of momentum going when they put their mind to it. The last thing the record needs therefore is this promise being stifled by regular spoken word diversions from what I assume to be the English translations of Lucio's films. Add to this the fact that most tracks are short affairs with the longest clocking in at three minutes and forty-six seconds. Therefore Tropical Sun soon gets very confusing if you are not sat watching the songs change on the player. Stabs of synthy nostalgia such as the penultimate track Immortality Virus are just unnecessary and the equally pointless album closer March of the Living Dead just confirms that the bands art lacks form or direction and relies too much on an obsession that does not transpose well into a death metal record.
Considering how many times I hear this band crop in my Spotify recommendation lists I am surprised by just how boring their sophomore record is and find myself with little or no desire to explore any further back or forwards in their brief discography. Hooded Menace know how to do record and drop film references in there and maybe Fulci should have listened through Never Cross The Dead a few times before committing to any recording time for this.
