Ottone Pesante are an Italian metal band with the unusual distinction of creating all of their instrumental tones with brass instruments (barring the drums).  I've heard electric violin and cello before, but never distorted brass. The three-piece band person consists of two trumpet players and a drummer. Scrolls of War is a forty-three-minute affair, and the next in a series of several full lengths and multiple EPs since their debut in 2016.

I'm happy to say the idea quickly moves beyond a mere novelty and becomes a secondary aspect of the listening experience, as the riffs themselves are smart and well composed, of an idiom I would describe as progressive death metal, with a touch of psychedelic jam band and heroic Viking metal in the wide dynamic contrasts of the instrumental builds and high flying emotional drifts.

The fact that it is played using brass instruments primarily matters because of the grim, raw tone they've achieved.  The metals used to build brass instruments instil the resulting timbre with a certain abrasive brightness, however this is perfectly tempered by the chosen distortion, a high gain fuzz sound with the treble rolled off.  Creating an inviting distortion tone that one wants to live inside is an important part of the experience of metal, and they have done so quite well here.  There are noticeably less bass frequencies than one might usually hear on a metal recording, but this is to be expected.

There is a kind of otherworldly dystopian scope to the progression of some of the tracks, such as the third piece "Men Kill, Children Die", which starts with a droning howl of dark ambient, and unfolds with a grave tempo processional I might compare to Magma in its fearsomely imposing strangeness, or to more experimental funeral doom groups like Esoteric.  Dissonant experimental classical and dark jazz adjacent tonalities inform a large amount of the melodic writing here, creating Thordendal-esque foreboding alien landscapes.  Clean, undistorted brass is used to marvellous effect on certain dramatic occasions, such as in the resounding Holst-ian chorale ending this third piece.

This ambitious brass metal group has created something of a modern equivalent to Holst's "The Planets", with a feeling of intimidating massiveness, and sweeping moments of high drama ending in massive chordal climaxes.  It is one of the most seamless integrations of orchestral and metal music I have ever heard, exemplifying the naturally 'metal' tendencies hidden within the trumpet that I have always speculated were there.  The years of previous releases have resulted in this group being comfortable and confident in their identity, and focused in their writing.  Scrolls Of War is a masterful recording,  been truly a soundtrack for an internal film.