Over the course of a decade or so, Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats made a name for themselves as the premier purveyors of lo-fi heavy metal, worshipping at the murkily powerful altar of Black Sabbath, dipping a bloody toe into dark psychedelia, and generally plowing a path that nobody really had before or has since. Their albums have been mostly of a piece, digging deeper and deeper into their sound until it was honed to perfection. Perhaps the years of working the same vein wore on the band's main creative force, Kevin A. Starrs, because on Nell' Ora Blu, he flips the script almost entirely. Forsaking the usual metal monolith, he's gone in multiple directions in a quest to pay tribute to Italian cinema of the 1970s. Working from a script to an imaginary film, he roped in a raft of legendary Italian actors to read his words while, musically, he roams off into such new territory as twanging desert psych rock, doomy synth pieces, spooky cinematic soundscapes, drifting space prog, and, occasionally, some diffuse metal that's almost recognizable. Added to the usual guitar-bass-drums attack are all manner of instruments like keyboards, trumpets, saxes, bongos, and strings as well as vocal choruses and the words of the actors. Starrs does a fantastic job of building something impressively authentic out of the various elements, forming them into a lengthy album of twists and turns that is true to its source material while putting a fresh spin on it. He doesn't look to ape the sounds of the '70s, rather merely to evoke them, and the extra added spookiness and blasts of grimy metal go a long way to making it come alive. The best moments are when the story and the music come together organically as on the short pieces of music that are truly cinematic in scope and reminiscent of the great composers of the past, but equally as thrilling are the songs where Starrs Frankensteins the new approach with the old Uncle Acid sound, in the end coming up with a exciting hybrid. "SOLO LA MORTE TI AMMANETTA" is a fine example of how he adds some extra stuff to the template -- like big, sweeping organ -- in order to build it up, while on tracks like "IL SOLE SORGE SEMPRE" and IL GATTO MORTO," he deconstructs the template and reassembles it in thrilling fashion. The latter song is especially delightful as strips back the grunge to allow for spiraling guitar solos, gospel choirs, meandering horns, synth washes, and a groove as heavily menacing as anything they had laid down before. It's a microcosm for the invention and efforts Starrs put into the record, and while it may not please all or many of the band's fans, there is plenty here to love for fans of ridiculous ambition, Italian cinema, and music that takes chances. He definitely takes more than one here, but it pays off in the end, and Nell' Ora Blu announces the arrival of a true heavy metal auteur. ~ Tim Sendra