DARK QUARTERER - S/T (1987)
Manilla Road a little lacking in thee bombast department for ya? Does listening to Manowar make ya wish they had a tad more flamboyance? Seldom has there been a band as committed to sweeping, breathtakingly EPIC tunesmithing as Piombino, Italy's Dark Quarterer. Their lengthy, ever-morphing ditties are packed with megalthic riffing, soaring vocals and labyrinthine arrangements that, upon first listen, might cause ya to be so disoriented, you'll figger ya didn't know thee secret handshake to enter their realm. Ya know what that means though, dontcha? That's right: Press play-->listen-->repeat, as with all masterpieces worthy of extended bouts of obsession. Although slightly hampered by the garagey production, their vision of uncompromising, 100 % Pure Fucking Metal with instrumental chops on par with most jazzbos remains undiminished.
Their roots can be traced all the way back to 1974 as cover band, Omega erre, consisting of Gianni Nepi (Vocals, Bass), Paolo Ninci "Nipa" (Drums), Francesco Longhi (Keyboards) and guitar genius/creative muse Fulberto Serena. The moniker switch to Dark Quarterer also brought about the band's first forays into penning original material, of which, terms like "eccentric" don't even begin to tell the tale. Sure, every metal band worth their salt has delved into thee mystical, magic(k)al and the occult at one point or another-- but never quite like these spaghetti slurpers. Take for example, "The Gates of Hell" which seemingly inverts thee typical Satanic storyline laid down by more bands than you could shake a studded wristband at-- BUT instead of praising Ol' Goat Horns, the protagonist's most fervent desire is to murder that goateed motherfucker and usurp his throne as thee ultimate exponent of evil!
With thee notable exception of Fulberto Serena, DQ are still going strong today-- I'd suggest checking out their latest, "Symbols," released earlier this year-- my pick for best of 2008 thus far. Of course, the option is always open for ya to buy whatever slab of hipster dreck Julian Cope or Pitchfork media are whoring incessantly, but I wouldn't recommend such things.
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BLACK HOLE - Land of Mystery (1980)
To borrow a song title from thee mighty Impaled Nazarene for purely descriptive purposes-- this obscure lil' opus provides a perfect soundtrack for the Lost Art of Goat Sacrificing. Or, you can insert yer own depraved, degenerate ritual that involves lots of virgin blood and ritualistic sex. "Soundtrack" is the key word here, as this LP is built around a nefarious, suffocating atmosphere moreso than crushing riffs. To take the lazy rockcrit route, a simple description would be to tell y'all to envision "Susperia"-era Goblin being sodomized by thee Paul Chain-led Death SS via Tony Iommi... but I loathe doing things the easy way. In reality, a much better touchstone would be Pagan Altar's debut album-- music that although firmly rooted in metal (particularly thee NWOBHM), transcends mere pigeonholing... a genre unto itself. It is thee mesmerizingly gloomy organ work that will suck you into thee surreal ambiance of "Land of Mystery." It's easy to envision unholy winds lashing deafening torrents of rain against the moldy windows of an eldritch house as you hopelessly search for an escape route in a frenzy of sheer terror. Ok, that was a bit much: My apologies to Mr. Lovecraft... and to you.
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