The Diarist is the third official album released by Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 melodic death metal

Melodic death metal

Melodic death metal is a heavy metal music style that combines elements from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with elements of death metal. The style was developed during the early and mid-1990s, primarily in England and Scandinavia...

 band Dark Lunacy

Dark Lunacy

Dark Lunacy is an Italian melodic death metal band, often using a string quartet-Biography:The band was founded in 1997 by singer Mike Lunacy and guitarist Enomys. It was not until 1999, with the addition of drummer Baijkal and bassist Harpad, that the band became complete and released their first...

.

Track listing

1. "Aurora" - 4:43
2. "Play Dead" - 5:46
3. "Pulkovo Meridian" - 6:03
4. "The Diarist" - 2:52
5. "Snowdrifts" - 5:08
6. "Now is Forever" - 5:33
7. "On Memory's White Sleigh" - 7:02
8. "Heart of Leningrad" - 5:51
9. "Prospekt" - 2:30
10. "Motherland" - 6:01
11. "The Farewell Song" - 6:37

Themes

The Diarist is a concept album

Concept album

In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...

 dealing with the Siege of Leningrad

Siege of Leningrad

The Siege of Leningrad, also known as the Leningrad Blockade was a prolonged military operation resulting from the failure of the German Army Group North to capture Leningrad, now known as Saint Petersburg, in the Eastern Front theatre of World War II. It started on 8 September 1941, when the last...

, an event in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 during which the city of Leningrad (St Petersburg) was blockaded from 1941 to 1944. The record uses the perspective of a woman who writes on her diary a day-by-day account of life in the bombed, isolated city whose inhabitants die of cold and starve, and the Red Army

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

soldiers, carry on a desperate resistance against the German enemy: it is to say that, actually, there is no political theme in The Diarist. The focus is on suffering, fear, hope and desperation:

Between myself and death there is my Leningrad
... Beat my heart, I know you're tired, make me feel we're still alive
(Heart Of Leningrad)