Salmo

“Ranch” is the seventh album in the career of Maurizio “Salmo” Pisciottu and comes at a time when the Sardinian rapper is forty years old with a complex career behind him: youthful experiences in metal-stoner-hardcore and a discography ranging from a unique crossover style in the Italian scene, heard on “The Island Chainsaw Massacre” (2011), to the horror-themed joint album “CVLT” (2023) with Noyz Narcos. A live workhorse and seasoned performer who’s also open to hits, Salmo has little left to prove, and in these 16 new tracks he seems intent on distancing himself from the rest of his peers. It feels like the moment for a more authorial turn, as happened with Marracash, born in 1979, but in truth these expectations are only partially fulfilled.

The hardcore style of his collaboration with Noyz is the starting point for “On Fire”, a furious delivery with machine-gun rhymes fired over an obsessive, unsettling beat: it opens and closes with atmospheric intensity, a skill Salmo has especially honed in recent years. More surprising, however, is the family narrative of “Crudele”, where the rapper rhymes with an open heart, or the dark-toned autobiography “Mauri”, in the epistolary style of “Stan”. This marks a real novelty in his discography: a more candid intimacy and a more explicit fragility, even if filtered through danceable rock like “Sincero”, complete with distorted guitars filling the chorus. When he lowers the volume, in “Sangue amaro” and “Incapace”, he reveals himself as a vibrant performer, more gifted vocally than almost any of his scene peers: the magic of the best moments on “Unplugged” (2022) returns as a guitar gently strokes the heart with melancholy.

At other times, Salmo continues to be himself, like in the bombastic hip-hop already ready for live shows in “Bounce!” or the trap-meets-rage sound of “Beatcoin”, a veteran rapper’s display ending in a heart-pounding finale. The deafening EDM of “Fuori controllo” will please those who loved “Death USB” and will likely cause chaos at concerts.

In “Il figlio del prete” he even plays with the two souls shown on this “Ranch”: a singer-songwriter intro, sudden upheaval, and then a high-intensity rap assault.

A valuable guest appearance by Kaos in “Bye Bye”, perfectly at ease in the more nocturnal and menacing atmospheres: he’s a hardcore role model that part of Salmo aspires to, but in “Ranch” there’s no intention of giving up his rowdier side or sacrificing the new introspective and narrative vein. As often happens, the album cools off due to its compromises: new and effective in portraying a half-real, half-imaginary ranch—both a place of thought and fantasy—which clashes with the energetic crossover style typical of Salmo’s language. While the more aggressive moments will set the live shows on fire, a full listen forces a choice: give in to a certain schizophrenia or accept a few skips.

11/05/2025