Opera IX

Italy really does have a sorely overlooked black metal scene. Necrodeath, Bulldozer, Schizo, Sinoath, Mortuary Drape....all crucial bands from the early years. But there are few bands in Italian black metal history as interesting as OPERA IX, from the Piedmont region.

"Cemetaria" is from 1990's Gothik

Opera IX was formed in 1988 by guitarist Ossian. While they are now known as pioneers in the gothic style of symphonic black metal, their initial sound was more of an almost doom/death with gothic overtones. Their 1990 demo, Gothik, is a sterling example of this. This was more or less the basis for Opera IX's sound in their early years, and it probably would have remained so if not for two important developments.

Off of The Triumph of the Death, this is "Born in the Grave"

First, vocalist Cadaveria joined in 1992. She is one of the earliest--and most well-known--examples of female vocalists in extreme metal, and she is able to combine beautiful, enchanting vocals, with gruff, harsh growls. She helped Opera IX stand out from the pack. But the other--equally important--development was the recruiting of Silent Bard on keyboards. He was a classically trained pianist, and his ethereal keyboard playing added another layer to Opera IX's sound. The first album with both Cadaveria and Silent Bard contributing was the 1993 EP The Triumph of the Death. This can rightfully be hailed as a landmark in not just Italian black metal, but symphonic black metal and gothic black metal as well.

The world really sat up and took notice after the release of this crucial EP. Not too long after, Opera IX were able to record their debut full-length album, 1994's The Call of the Wood. This album was more of the same style as the EP, but members of the band have since said that they wished they had a bigger budget for better production. Personally, I think that the production values on Call work with Opera IX's style. Call of the Wood is, in my opinion, a masterpiece.

"Al Azif" is a fantastic song off of Call of the Wood

After a one-album deal with Shiver Records (which resulted in the follow-up to Call of the Wood, 1998's Sacro Culto), Opera IX signed with well-known Italian label Avantgarde Records. Their next several albums were released through this label. They also appeared on two really great compilations put out by Dwell Records: Awakenings - Females in Extreme Music in 1997, and A Call to Irons - A Tribute to Iron Maiden in 1998 (where they covered Maiden's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner")

1998's Sacro Culto gave us "My Devotion"

At the same time, the band underwent immense personnel changes. Silent Bard had left before the recording of Sacro Culto, and in 2001, Opera IX parted ways with Cadaveria and drummer Flegias. Ossian and the remaining members of the band soldiered on, recruiting Madras on vocals, Taranis on drums, and Lunaris on keyboards.

I honestly believe that Opera IX's work with Cadaveria is their best--truly genre-defining. That being said, Opera IX in general is one of the most important and interesting bands in all of symphonic/gothic black metal's history.

"Act I - The First Seal" is from the 2000 magnum opus The Black Opera

Select Discography:

Gothik (demo) (1990)

Promo '92 (demo) (1992)

The Triumph of the Death 7" (1993)

The Call of the Wood (full-length) (1994)

Sacro Culto (full-length) (1998)

The Black Opera: Symphoniae Mysteriorum in Laudem Tenebrarum (full-length) (2000)

Maleventum (full-length) (2002)

Amphisbena (full-length) (2004)

Next time: MUSSORGSKI

Moonspell

In Portuguese black metal, Decayed has made more of a sustained impact but MOONSPELL--from Amadora, in the Lisbon area--had a rather early impact on not just Portuguese black metal, but world black metal. A noteworthy difference in the trajecteories of these two bands was that after their early years of influential black metal, Moonspell changed direction completely and became a melodic gothic metal band. Decayed, however, has remained a black metal band.

Forming in 1989 under the name Morbid God, the members continued in the extreme metal tradition of using dark and demonic stage names. There was Langsuyar on vocals, Tetragrammaton on bass, Malah and Mantus on guitar, and Baalberith on drums. Their sound can best be described as a dark, atmospheric metal that is heavily steeped in old-school black metal. Aside from some rehearsals, the only actual release put out by Morbid God was a one-track promo in 1992, "Serpent Angel." This song also made its way onto some compilation albums.

Here is Morbid God's "Serpent Angel"

1992 was both the beginning and the end: it was the end of Morbid God, but it was the beginning of Moonspell. They quickly took the metal world by storm with 1993's Anno Satanae demo. This was a very atmospheric release, with melodic and gothic elements that would remain with the band throughout their career.

Here is the Anno Satanae demo in its entirety

In 1994, Moonspell put out their now-famous self-titled EP. It was a clear continuation of their earlier sound, but you can already hear them moving away from black metal. The songs were more riff-oriented than your standard black metal (especially considering that this was 1994), and there was a heavy emphasis on a keyboard-driven melodic atmosphere. You can definitely hear the seeds of their later gothic style on this seminal release, and they moved even more in that direction with 1995's Wolfheart.

"Tenebrarum Oratorium" comes from that 1994 self-titled EP

1995's Wolfheart gives us this track, "Wolfshade"

Wolfheart is rightly hailed as a masterpiece. It contains an excellent balance of the melodic and brutal, the gothic and the black, the romantic and the necro. The changes that came after this album are changes that have divided a lot of metal fans. Moonspell would choose to emphasize the gothic more and more, with often inconsistent results. Some of their post-Wolfheart albums alienated metalheads pretty strongly, and as such, I think that their early years are the ones worth focusing on most for the purposes of the history of black metal.

Select Discography

Anno Satanae (demo) (1993)

Under the Moonspell EP (1994)

Wolfheart (full-length) (1995)

Next time: NIFELHEIM