Artist description Aggressive, yet romantic, dark, yet enlightened by a mystical vein, "Sacrament" consists of five tracks of raw energy bursting out in a somewhat playful manner. After the considerable success that their previous release, "Confession", gathered with fans, zines and radio shows around the world, the Bats have not only survived yet another split-up: once again they have risen, renewed, from their own ashes, to start a new life. Singer Matteo and guitarist Dario, both from the ALCHEMISTI PAINTERS group(est.1975), are the founders of the band and the only ones left from the original 1992 line-up. The artwork by the Alchemisti Painters on this new CD is outstanding as always, but this time there is an exciting participation by Eric A. Hammer (Mors Syphilitica) with his art of graphics, which highlights this miniature gallery, complementing it and making it even more precious. Still present, in the music, is the dichotomy between Sorrow and Hope, Tragedy and Irony. Matteo's sensual, dramatic recitatifs, counterpointed by Vanessa's droning, obsessive, wicked synth harmonies, conjure up the chilling atmospheres of misty transylvanian landscapes, cold, yet shivering with concealed passion. Loren's bass and Rosetta's drums (acoustic on title track, DTX all others), seethe underneath with lavic and enigmatic rhythms, eager to induce movement. Dario's guitar lashes through this black and white horror-fairytale setting with streaks of silver, dictating moods with chromatic layers and sequences of color, dominating from afar as if with pictorial brushstrokes weaving into the music from his visionary experience...

Music Style rock-gothic-alternative-

Group Members Matteo:singer&songwriterDario:guitar&composerRosetta:drumsLoren: bassVanessa H.:keys

Instruments Voice-Guitar-Drums-Bass-Keys

Albums "Spiritual Bats" vinyl EP-1993; "Confession" CD-1997; "Sacrament" CDep-1999

Press Reviews THE GOTHIC WORLD-MAY 2000:"Auch in Italien soll es Fledermäuse geben, ich habs schon immer geahnt, jetzt ist es offenbar: SPIRITUAL BATS präsentieren ihr neues Werk "Sacrament". Die Band um Matteo (Vocals), Vanessa (Keyboards), Dario (Guitars), Loren (Bass) und Rosetta (Drums) sind in der Italo Gothic Scene keine Unbekannten. Nach ihrer Vinyl-EP "Spiritual Bats", dem CD-Debut "Confession", unzähligen Auftritten, Radio Shows und Compilation-Beiträgen (auch in Frankreich, Portugal und USA) wird es an der Zeit, mit ihrem im August `99 erschienenen Album "Sacrament" auch endlich hierzulande Gehör zu finden. Das Artwork von "Sacrament" gibt sich schwarz, mystisch, geheimnisvoll schön. Die Musik von SPIRITUAL BATS zu umschreiben bedarf es ein paar Worte mehr: Das Titelstück "Sacrament" kommt nach bedrohlichem Intro mit schnellen Beats und agressiven Rockriffs zur Sache. Das ist Gothic-Rock, so soll es sein! "Reflection of You" ist ein langsam dahingleitender Flug durch die unendliche Nacht. Danach werden die "Lost Souls" beschworen. "Ritual" geht noch tiefer unter die Haut und "Dazzling Lights" beschießt hymnenhaft ein Album, daß mir vorkommt, als wäre die Zeit irgendwo zwischen den 80ern und den 90ern stehengeblieben. So wie damals, als ich zum ersten Mal BAUHAUS oder SISTERS OF MERCY gehört habe. Aufnahmetechnisch ist es ja nicht die Qualität, die wir heutzutage erwarten, andereseits so aber eine gewisse Rauheit und Kantigkeit rüberkommt, die den Songs eine ganz besondere Atmosphäre verleiht. Und es ist, als wäre die Welt untergegangen, irgendwann und die verlorenen Seelen feiern seither eine Party mit SPIRITUAL BATS. In meinen Ohren ein absoluter Geheimtip!"SCHWARZE SZENE-INDIE ONLINE-MAY 2000 "Holla, Ohren auf, hier gibt´s was ganz Feines zum Lauschen. Feinsten Dark Wave nämlich, Dark Wave der Güteklasse 1a. Die Italiener Spiritual Bats liefern mit ihrer neuen (leider nur) EP Sacrament Gänsehaut-Stoff ab.Ganz im alten Stile des Gothic/Dark Wave der 80er wird drückend-depressiv unterlegter Sprechgesang geboten, der z.B. die ebenso hervorragende italienische Dark Wave-Combo The Frozen Autumn ergänzt. Leichte Vergleiche könnte man vielleicht auch mit den Fields oder The Mission anführen. Die Songs Sacrament, Reflection Of You, Lost Souls, Ritual und Dazzling Lights bestechen zumindest durch ihre herrlich dunklen Texte, die wirklich optimal in die Klang-Collage eingearbeitet worden sind. Es ist nicht möglich, einen Song dieses kleinen Gesamtkunstwerks gesondert hervorzuheben, von daher lasse ich es ganz einfach und gebe nur den dringenden Ratschlag an alle wahren Gothics ab: holt euch diese Scheibe! Naja, ein kleins Manko hab ich dann doch. Verflucht nochmal, warum sind diese geilen Songs so kurz!?""Individuals that know what it is to be artists, emissaries of beauty and reality, Spiritual Bats take on their world with musical power. The music of Spiritual Bats is filled with emotion and insight. Combining this with their shadowy, dramatic sound makes for a moving listening experience […]" (Sheryl - Starvox Webzine - www.atlantagothic.net/rosemortem - USA)"Not ambient, no… but an 18-minute EP of energetically brooding Italian Gothic Rock. Dario Passamonti and Matteo Bracaglia lead their compatriot gloom rockers (Rosetta, Vanessa H. and Loren) through five tracks like Sacrament, Lost Souls and Ritual. Appropriately somber vocals, churning guitar, keening keyboards are backed by femme-powered drums and bass. Though a new release, these dark gems glimmer with a distinctly old-school sound and a raw energy which can only come from true love of the genre […]" (David J. Opdyke - The Ambientrance Webzine - USA)"Con una presentaciòn simple, pero efectista; con un diseno cuidado e ilustrativo, asì hallamos este CD que supone el renacer de esta band italiana surgida en el 92. Vicisitudes durante este intervalo y una nueva formaciòn los hacen poblar nuestro mundo neonato. Sacrament es un Cd con 5 temas aderezados con rotundas guitarras, sobrecogedores teclados e hipnòtica voz. Abre el àlbum Sacrament, quizàs el tema màs dinàmico, y que merece todos los honores de capitalizar el proprio nombre del CD. Reflection Of You te sumerge en un laboratorio poblado de alambiques humeantes. La siluetas pierden sus formas naturales, para dar pie a sombras que se agitan. El alquimista experimenta para re-crear a aquella que recuerda. […]" (Mario- Funeral De Las Violetas Radio Show - Spain)"Perhaps more Gothic than modern Goth music today, Spiritual Bats exhume the rotting corpse of old school Gothic Rock. Put Sacrament on for a night of danse macabre. Reminiscent influences from Rozz of the earlier Christian Death years, and classic electric hauntings of Bauhaus permeate the 5 darkened tracks of Sacrament. Music perfect for masquerades, sexual melancholy, and the mystery of innocent seduction. Pour the wine, light the candles and set your legs to dancing like it was 1985. […]" (Jett Black - Nocturnal Movements Promotions - USA)"[…] Concluyendo, se puede decir que siguen practicando un rock-gòtico a la vieja usanza pero con madurez y refinamiento. En los cinco temas de este disco se sigue una lìnea agresiva aunque romàntica, oscura aunque iluminada por una vena mìstica. Quizàs pocas innovaciones dentro de un estilo ya manido, pero perfilando un estilo proprio y sobre todo dejando atràs el lastre de bandas como Christian Death cuya influencia era notable en su anterior trabajo […] (Socorro - Necropolis Webzine - Canarie Islands)"Italy can boast many acclaimed exports, yet none so worthy of praise as Spiritual Bats. This is another band I encountered on Cleopatra's "The Unquiet Grave." […] "Sacrament," follows on the heels of the well received "Confession" release. When I first started listening to this I was startled by its style. […] It is a superb work, a fine homage to great traditions. […] I was pleasantly reminded of the fondness I still harbor for bands like Specimen, and Alien Sex Fiend. Bat Cave represented what was pleasant about my immersion into true subcultures. It's really refreshing to hear how the parts, join to create a whole […] This harkens back to a time when musicians could actually play their instruments, and play them well […] In conclusion, I'd like to extend my congratulations to Spiritual Bats, for a job well done. I'm delighted to recommend this disc to anyone who appreciates music. It is rendered with consummate attention to detail, and craftsmanship […]" (Black Orpheus - Starvox Webzine - USA)"We can describe Spiritual Bats as a great death-rock surprise. […] Spiritual Bats sound very present, with a lot of strength and gothic good taste. They have their own personality. If you love the old times (and the best times for gothic), and you haven't listened to Spiritual Bats, you are wasting your time.[…]" (Paloma Terleira - Escalera Sin Peldaños Radio Show - Spain)"Enfin la nouvelle réalisation tant attendue de cette formation gothique/batcave italienne très remarqué, et aux influences classiques profondément enracinées dans la scène Goth du début des années 80 (CHRISTIAN DEATH/Rozz Williams, notamment). Avec les cinq titres présents sur ce maxi/mini album, les SPIRITUAL BATS nous reviennent donc sans grande surprise, absolument fidèles à eux-mêmes et au style qui les avait fait connaître sur leur premier CD "Confession", à ceci près que la qualité de la production s'inscrit cette fois-ci à un niveau supérieur, et que la voix est désormais plus claire et davantage mise en avant. Quant au clavier, il continue d'envelopper de ses lugubres et lancinantes atmosphères vampiriques, si caractéristiques de la "griffe" des BATS, chacun de ces morceaux rythmés mais aux atmosphères aussi nocturnes que cauchemardesques. Un maxi CD hautement recommandable pour tous les inconditionnels du Gothic classique." (Hans - Wardance Magazine - France)"Without doubt this is the best gothic rock/80's wave influenced record of this year. The Spiritual Bats are able to create dark atmospheres being deeply personal and inspired. I don't know their first record, but this SACRAMENT makes me think about the wave Italian movement of the middle 80's (when in Italy there were tons of great bands like: Nadja, Bluosons Noirs, Dead Relatives Carillion Del Dolore, etc.): tribal catching tunes lead by an underground synthetic sound. The five tracks of this MCD make me wonder for some more and they well represent that Italian way of doing dark music that it's well known and appreciated in the foreign countries also." (Maurizio Pustianaz - Chain DLK Magazine and Real Audio Radio Show - Italy)"When listening to the Spiritual Bats, you enter the music as an initiate who has discovered a lost world thriving upon its own secret rituals. The idea of sacred trust only begins to scratch the surface of the music's many themes, gradually revealed upon each listen. […]". (Madeline Virbasius Walsh - The Sentimentalist Magazine - USA)"[…]Spiritual Bats, the only Italian band that can eternally be remembered for opening for the master, Rozz Williams (Rome, 1994). The binomial "American Gothic-Spiritual Bats" is absolute and totalitarian for an infinity of reasons: first of all for the musical genre they propose, but then again, for the honor above mentioned, as well as for that strong friendship which, for some time now, has tied the band and their society of the Alchemists to the Sacrum Torch label/society of New York and specifically to Lisa and Eric Hammer of Mors Syphilitica (the latter having created the graphics on the Bats' CD). […] The atmospheres are grave, obscure, well sustained by excellent tribal drumming […] (surprise, the drummer's name is Rosetta and she's a woman!), perfectly blended with Loren's throbbing bass (musician "borrowed" from Chants Of Maldoror), and the sharp performances by Dario and Vanessa H. on the guitar and keys respectively. Try not to imagine a CD a la "Only Theatre Of Pain", though. You'd be disappointed: the Spiritual Bats' sound today is still alien to any punk-ish contaminations, as Matteo has had the good taste of not trying to sound like Mr. Rozz Williams at any cost (thank you!). The songs, never deafening nor pompous, are as sharp as blades in "Reflection Of You", "Lost Souls", "Ritual", and "Dazzling Lights". "Sacrament", first episode on the Cd, is the most upbeat moment in this work: even so, not played upon stereotyped guitar acrobatics nor deafening vocal ranting, but rather structured around a claustrophobic and obsessive rhythmic section […]" (Alex Daniele - Ascension Magazine - Italy)

Additional Info "Funeral Cries" Video-Clip

Location Frosinone - Italy

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