Italy’s STORM{O} Premiere Song From Benefit Remix Compilation — Listen Here!

The Italian screamo/ hardcore punk group STORM{O} have been busy amidst the global lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On June 29, they are releasing a collection of remixes that other artists have made of the band’s songs; the new remix record is called REBOOT SYSTEM – REBOUND COLLECTIVE, and you can get a first listen to one of the tracks below! The song is a remix of two STORM{O} songs called “Meteorite” and “In Volo,” and the remix is the work of Francesca97, a DJ who works with hip-hop, noise, sludge metal, and Eurobeat, according to his Instagram profile (which is at this link).

All of the proceeds of REBOOT SYSTEM – REBOUND COLLECTIVE are going to Nessuna da Sola (meaning, in English, Nobody Left Alone), which is an Italian initiative to support the crucial financial needs of sex workers. On their new remix record, STORM{O} and the other participating musicians also address broader concerns about keeping the underground artistic community thriving amidst struggles like the pandemic. The band and the other musicians involved have taken the opportunity of the pandemic — and the new remix collection — to establish their commitment to elevating important voices through the music.

The new remix track available from the record feels very powerful. Besides the vocals, one of the most prominent elements that have been retained from the original STORM{O} material is the anxious melody that runs through “In Volo,” which repeats throughout much of the background of this new remix. That particular melody and all of the rest of the elements feel buried by pulsing waves of grating industrial beats that amplify the punchy feel of the original music in a uniquely memorable direction. When listening to the new remix track, a listener might think — should I dance? Should I stand at attention? The tumult inherent in that conflict feels united by the forceful energy of the remix, which even gets anthemic-feeling when the vocals end up almost all on their own in the lead-up to the three minute mark — after which there’s a sudden onslaught of industrial haze drowning the band’s original emotionally intense metallic hardcore.

Listen to the song below, and scroll down to read an explanation from STORM{O} of their perspective about the new remix record. The full record also features remixes by artists like OvO, Mario Rizzotto from the screamo/ melodic hardcore group Øjne, and more. Pre-order a hand-numbered limited edition CD copy of the remix record (which comes with a screenprinted poster) at this link.

The band explains:

“Isolated, divided, secluded, deprived of the real dimension of the social bound. A state of emergency that intensified its control on the bodies, scared for our lives, consumed by our own selfishness, forgetting whom was already excluded and living at the fringe of our cities.

REBOOT SYSTEM – REBOUND COLLECTIVE is a collective artistic experience that aimed to create a bound that could pass through all the underground Italian music scene. It’s a collective effort, because we do not understand creativity as tools to realize something profitable but as a device through which marginalized subjects can speak out-loud.

The aim of REBOOT SYSTEM – REBOUND COLLECTIVE is to give voice to whom is too often ignored by the dominant discourse, to all those subjects that are constantly discriminated and subjugated.

We took what we have created in the last few years, fragmented it and asked people to reassemble the pieces creating something new. We chose 10 songs out of the 40 we received back, trying to highlight how we can all together smash the structure we’re used to living in and build something else.

We’re now self-releasing this collection of remixes both physically and digitally and all proceeds will be donated to Nessuna da Sola and their campaign in support of sex workers. We’re dedicating REBOOT SYSTEM – REBOUND COLLECTIVE to Nessuna da Sola because we think we all need to use our privilege to give voice to the excluded, to fight injustice; to question the vertical structure of society and to make it collapse.

“Rebooting system” means strengthening all those communities heavily oppressed by structural violence; ending sexism, racism, homotransphobia and discrimination. “Rebounding collective” means we all need to do our part in this, to stop acting selfishly and collectively build up the world we wanna live in on the ashes of this one.

We wanna thank all the associations that created the Nessuna da Sola project and all the artists that participated to REBOOT SYSTEM – REBOUND COLLECTIVE. An extended version of the project will be released online to enhance the effort and the contribution of all the people that answered to our call.

The artwork combines a collage of fragments of bodies made by Matteo Castro and a picture of New Delhi by Francesco Flagiello; edited and glitched by Federico Trimeri.”