Resurrecturis

One of the problems with extreme metal is trying to figure out when the artists are serious and when they are trying to be ironic. Some say that it's a European thing, that bands like Italy's Resurrecturis are so overridden with angst that sometimes, like the title of their 2004 album, The Cuckoo Clocks Of Hell, it comes off as being trite. With their latest, Non Voglio Morire (I Don't Want to Die), the seriousness and urgency within the album, focused on founder/guitarist Carlo Strappa's struggle to create his art within the daily pressures of life, are clearly palatable in tracks like the gloomy, goth-inspired "The Artist," with guest vocalist Gloria Strappa. But the Goldilocks and the Three Bears interplay between the melodic female vocals and the brusque spoken bits by Carlos turn what could have been a serious moment into a cheese-fest. Great tracks like "Prologue" are quickly overshadowed by duds like "Fuck Face," with lyrics so overwrought it's laughable.