Winged

Italy, as we have seen, is home to a rather fruitful black metal scene. While some of Italy's black metal bands have gone on to some degree of international renown on the world stage--such as Opera IX and Mortuary Drape--other bands were much more underground by nature. Catania, Sicily's WINGED is one such band.

Winged formed in 1991. Fabio War had recently left Sinoath, and soon recruited Alex Storm (bass), Danilo (vocals), and Alexander (drums) to round out this new band of his. After releasing a couple of untitled demos later that year and in 1992, the line-up changed with Devastator replacing Alexander on drums and Fabian taking over on vocals after the departure of Danilo. This new line-up put out a demo that has since taken on legendary status in the underground, 1993's Oath of Blood.

This is Oath of Blood in its entirety

As can be heard above on the demo, Winged's style is kind of an old-school black/death metal. With riffing that is reminiscent of 1980s death metal, but at the same time has an almost hellenic sound to it, the songs on this demo possess a uniquely sinister aura to them. Punctuated by the use of eerie, dark keyboard passages, Winged was definitely on to something new with their sound. No other Italian band of this era had a style like theirs.

1996's A Voice Beyond the Grave highlights a different direction in their sound

This demo caused black metallers throughout the underground to sit up and take notice. However, Winged went on temporary hiatus until late 1995, when they emerged newly invigorated with a relatively fresh line-up: Fabio (guitars), Axl Moto (vocals), FullMoon (bass), and Alf Thunder (drums). The result was two demos in 1996 that showcased a more occultic, black metal sound. The death metal influences of their early years were much more subdued in favor of a playing style that easily fits under the label "black metal". With their black metal credentials more firmly established, Winged entered the studio to create their first (and to date, only) full-length album, From the Arcane Burning Legions.

"Living in My Hell" is off of Winged's full-length debut

Recorded in late 1997 and released in 1998, Legions is a dark, mystical album that balances the sinister black metal stylings of the recent demos with a melodic use of keyboards and clean vocals. The result was a release that was clearly consistent with Winged's earlier efforts, but at the same time did something new. While I would argue that there isn't an "Italian sound" in black metal, per se, I would say that some of the elements of Winged's sound are present to some degree in the work of fellow countrymen Sinoath, Opera IX, and Mortuary Drape (eerie synths, a more mid-paced guitar style, non-traditional black metal vocals, to name a few).

Since the release of 1998's Legions, Winged hasn't really done much. They have put out a four-song EP in 2007 (House of Silence) and a compilation of old material in 2013. Additionally, they have re-released their full-length album a couple of times. There are rumors that new material is being worked on, but until it surfaces, we shall have to see what the future holds for Winged....

Here is the 2007 EP of House of Silence

Select Discography:

Rehearsal Tape (demo) (1991)

Rehearsal '92 (demo) (1992)

Oath of Blood (demo) (1993)

A Voice Beyond the Grave (demo) (1996)

When the Evil Emerges (demo) (1996)

From the Arcane Burning Legions (full-length album) (1998)
The House of Silence EP (2007)

Next time: ENSLAVED

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