Sinoath

Ask any casual black metal fan to name an Italian black metal band, and you'd probably get a blank stare. Maybe they've heard of Opera IX or Graveworm, or perhaps a more recent band like Blasphemophager, but the old school? Not likely. And that's a shame because Italy's scene was as vibrant as so many other countries. With Necrodeath and Bulldozer at the head of the pack with their notorious black/thrash, Death SS as something of a distant ancestor, and Mortuary Drape holding their own with so many first-wave and second-wave bands, bands like SINOATH also deserve a mention.

From their first demo, here is "Black River Acheron"

Formed in 1990 in the Sicilian city of Catania and citing bands ranging from Death SS to Obituary to Black Sabbath as influences, Sinoath released their first demo--Forged in Blood--in 1991. With such a diverse mix of influences, one would expect a sound that doesn't neatly fit under a 'black metal' label. And this would be a fair assumption. Using keyboards for a very effective dark and occultic atmosphere, the riffing clearly owes a lot to 1980s death AND black metal, with fairly brutal vocals to boot.

From their second demo, here is "Sinoath"

On their second demo--1993's Still in the Grey Dying--Sinoath's sound began to solidify as a more death/thrash kind of style.  The keyboards continue to enhance the atmosphere of the music, making it have a kind of old-school occult feel to it, but make no mistake, it's still more firmly in the death/thrash camp than black metal camp.  The same can be said of their oddly titled full-length album, 1995's Research.  Shortly after the release of this album, Sinoath broke up.

About a decade later, however, Sinoath got back together with a totally new lineup (other than founding drummer Salvatore).  The result was 2007's full-length Under the Ashes.  This album has a sound that can only be described as merging the keyboard-driven evil atmosphere of their early work with an homage to old-school black/thrash.  Take a listen:

2007's Under the Ashes

Select Discography:

Forged in Blood (demo) (1991)
Still the Grey Dying (demo) (1993)
Research (full-length) (1995)
Under the Ashes (full-length) (2007)

Next time: DEMONCY

Necrodeath

Genoa, Italy's NECRODEATH is an old-school black/thrash band that has proved highly influential.  Their initial releases in the 1980s (before breaking up and then re-forming in 1999) contain that extreme black/thrash sound that clearly draws on Venom, but is more reminiscent of Sabbat, early Sodom, and fellow countrymen Bulldozer.

They formed in 1984 under the moniker Ghostrider, and released a demo under that name before changing their name to Necrodeath the following year.  That same year, they put out their first demo as Necrodeath, entitled The Shining Pentagram.  It is a raw slab of primitive old-school black/thrash.

This is "Necro-Thrashing Death" off of their demo

In 1987, they put out what is now a classic, the album Into the Macabre.  It continues in the same vein as the demo, with strong black/thrash.  The production is obviously improved over the demo, but still maintains that raw edge that black metal needs.  Looking back on earlier posts, I'm seeing that 1987 was an amazing year for 1980s black metal: Bathory, Sarcofago, Mayhem, Poison, Holocausto, and now Necrodeath all put out important releases that year.

From that first album, here is "Necrosadist"

Their next album, 1989's Fragments of Insanity, cleaned up the production a little bit, thus giving it more of an extreme thrash feel to it than an old-school black metal sound.  That being said, it is still clearly in the black/thrash camp and holds up well next to modern bands like Aura Noir and Bewitched.  Not too long after the release of Insanity, Necrodeath broke up.

The title track from 1989's Fragments of Insanity

Luckily for metal fans everywhere, Necrodeath got back together in 1999.  They have been releasing albums ever since the re-formation, but the newer albums seem to lack some of that rawness of the early material.  It's still better than the majority of crap out there passing itself off as 'metal,' but it's got stronger and cleaner production, and black metal's edges are supposed to be dirty and unpolished.  To be honest, their style since reforming reminds me of a slightly more aggressive Sodom.

From the 1999 reunion album, Mater of All Evil

Select Discography:

as Ghostrider

The Exorcist (demo) (1984)

Mayhemic Destruction (demo) (1985)

as Necrodeath
The Shining Pentagram (demo) (1985)
Into the Macabre (full-length) (1987)
Fragments of Insanity (full-length) (1989)

Next time: MASTER'S HAMMER