Recorded in just three days, yes, you heard right ladies and gentlemen, three days it took to complete The Last Sicilian Standing. The new solo project by Giac Taylor by Romano Nervoso, also known as Giacomo Panarisi, showcases his love of the spaghetti westerns and the giallo cinemas between Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci, and Dario Argento in the ‘60s and ‘70s.
The cover of the album says it all. It’s almost like something straight out of the movie posters you would look at in the ‘70s when filmmakers were taking risks and making bold films during the new Hollywood-era, showing their inspirations between the golden age and the foreign films they would see in Italy, France, and Japan.
And we ain’t talkin’ about the shitty-ass Star Wars franchise ladies and gentlemen, we’re talking about an imaginative movie that’ll make you want to go back for more repeatable watches to see what you’re missing.
From its dooming mellotron choir and Talking Heads-like approach which speaks of the thumping sounds of ‘Psycho Killer’, ‘Soldier and Outlaw’ is the last stand for the man with no name by venturing out his next journey that awaits him. It blends into the original Alice Cooper band from the Killer-era and its Detroit-like sound that comes out of nowhere.
And then they simply twist things around by going into the Thrash Metal scene when it was hot in the early ‘80s on ‘The Blame’. How heavy can Giac Taylor get? Really fucking heavy, folks! It taps into the blistering sounds of Slayer during their Reign in Blood years, but add in massive amounts of hot and spicy sweet sauce and wasabi to make a ferocious composition that’ll put Steel Panther to shame.
If you think that’s over, think again. The surreal instrumental title-track walks into a deadly dooming classical orientation with strings, fingers snapping, a romantic twist, but heading towards his final hurrah with one last bullet in his gun. There’s a touch of the Diablo Swing Orchestra in the momentum. And the way Giac Taylor handles it, you know he’s getting down to business.
The fuzz-tone bass on ‘May Satan Bless You’, is where it gets down and dirty! It taps into not just the Master of Reality sessions from Black Sabbath, but Goblin’s synths from the Tenebre sessions flowing into view with some slithering, trippy arrangements that’ll make you want to be in this hypnotic trance.
The Last Sicilian Standing is the imaginative movie we’ve been waiting for. This is Giac Taylor showcasing a true sense of what real good movies with a killer score should be, top to bottom. And its points us in the right direction that we badly needed.
