Umberto : Black Bile

Musician/composer Matt Hill, aka Umberto, started out releasing albums that felt like imagined soundtracks to horror and sci fi films. Pulling heavily from 70s Italian horror films you’d catch late night after everyone went to bed, his early albums had everything from Italio Disco, Giallo melodrama, and synth-heavy sci fi sounds. His moniker was taken as a tribute to famed Italian film director Umberto Lenzi, Umberto the music project embodied the cold, suspenseful world of slasher scores and sweaty discos of the 70s.

But over the last decade Matt Hill has found a perfect sonic balance, engaging in lighter sounds and ambient touches. There’s much less dread-inducing songs and more contemplative pieces. His score work has also expanded his sonic palate to new vibes. Listen to his work for the films Archenemey and Loveseat for further proof.

Returning to his solo work, the new Umberto album dives further into the world of ambient music. Black Bile, while sounding like a black metal album, is anything but. Inspired by the ancient Greek theory of the “four humors,” an early medical theory linking the inner workings of the human body to the elements. Black Bile is a chill out record of the highest order, and one that connects us to the world in a tactile, elemental way.

What you get with Black Bile is seven songs that slowly make their way from speaker to brain. Piano, guitars, synths, and other otherworldly sounds come together to create the feeling of staring into a darkening autumn sky searching for answers. Or it can be as simple as zoning out after a long day. “Grasp” opens the album on wavering electronics and echoing piano notes. It’s the musical equivalent of slow moving clouds in the sky; Arthouse soundtrack for the ambivalent stare. There’s a 70s feel to something like “Empty Shell”. Sounds like something you’d hear in a Nicholas Roeg or Wim Wenders film. “Monkshood” does bring to mind cloud-hidden mountains and overwhelming landscapes.

This is music that feels both minuit and widescreen at the same time; “October” and “Dying Honey and Linden” are intimate, yet as big as the universe.

Matt Hill has evolved his work as Umberto into something far different from its beginnings. Black Bile is a quiet, expansive, and layered body of sound. One for contemplation and meditation.