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  1. Dear Brothers, this topic is self-explanatory. Metal (and metal-related) bands (famous, obscure, unknown...) in your country/region/area that you feel like recommending to other fellow Metalheads! I'm Italian so here's my list divided per decades as concerns Italy, along with some personal anedoctes where possible ? Hope you enjoy it! - 1960s-70s Jacula - Progressive Rock, Occult Rock (Italy - Milan?) Always been mysterious, their leader and founder Antonio Bartoccetti seems to have passed away recently, thus bringing with him the secret. They are indicated by many as the first act ever to deal with esoteric and occult themes and to bring a dark gothic doom sound into the world of late 60's rock and progressive. Their first album "In Cauda Semper Stat Venenum" seems to have been released in the second half of the sixties only to be played during esoteric and messianic gatherings, unfortunately today only the 2001 reissue seems to be available. Be truth or fantasy, I always felt proud of the fact that Jacula is a project conceived and developed in Italy, perhaps the country at that time less suitable for this type of sound and subjects. A similar project in the late 60s can only be found in my opinion in the US band Coven with their debut album 'Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls' (it also contains probably the first Black Mass ever recorded on disc), but the sound of Jacula looks much darker and gothic and with extensive use of organ. By the way, little digression, the first song of Coven's debut album is entitled Black Sabbath, the bassist's name was Greg 'Oz' Osborne ... coincidences? Le Orme - Progressive Rock (Italy - Venice) Fantastic Progressive Rock band from Venice (my town) in the late 60s and early 70s, at the time much more famous and appreciated abroad than in Italy, the same fate that PFM had years later (they were the first Italian rock band to tour extensively the United States). The great Peter Hammil of Van Der Graf Generator adored Le Orme and translated in English their lyrics. I'm a lover but I admit not a big connoisseur of the progressive scene, but I consider Le Orme's 1973 album 'Felona and Sorona', one of the highest peaks of the entire prog rock genre. Le Orme is a band still active. Always in the 70s Italian Prog Rock scene, but with heavier sounds, I recommend you to check out Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Museo Rosembach and Il Rovescio della Medaglia (their 1973 song "Alzo un Muro Elettrico" is really Heavy Metal!). - 1970s. Death SS - Heavy Metal, Horror Metal (Italy - Florence) Going back to esotericism, occult and why not, satanism, Death SS from Florence and Le Marche region is an Italian band that I absolutely recommend. They were already doing in 1977 what many bands do nowadays in terms of music, lyrics and show, something really unbelievable for Italy at the time! Definitely among the creators of horror / shock metal and of shows and stage performances (face painting, skulls, blood etc...) we can see today in the Black Metal scene. 'The Story of Death SS 1977-1984' was the first Italian Metal record I bought back in 1988. I definetely prefer this one which contians their early rough works, and refer to the years of the satanic occult dualism of band members and mastermind Steve Silvester / Paul Chain. They changed a lot in following years but are still today a fantastic live act anyway! - 1980s. Necrodeath - Thrash, Speed, Black (Italy - Genoa). One day in the previous life (early July 2019) I was at Rock The Castle, one of the most important summer Metal Festivals in Italy. By mid-afternoon we were all waiting for Phil Anselmo & The Illegals, following on stage Necrodeath, Onslaught and Overkill who played before. Old good Phil Anselmo shows up, greets everyone and says the following words: "I feel honored to play after Necrodeath, Black Metal before Black Metal". I must say that I had never listened to Necrodeath with due attention before last July, but thinking about what they did in 1987 ("Into The Macabre" album) and above all where they did it (Italy) made me shiver and made me proud! How proud we all were that day, after the words of Phil Anselmo! After this special mention for Necrodeath, I also recently re-discovered and recommend other great Italian extreme bands of the 80s such as Schizo and Bulldozer, widely considered seminal all over Europe. As concerns the 80s check out also Raw Power (hardcore punk, crossover), Strana Officina (Heavy Metal), Dark Quarterer (Heavy Metal, Epic Metal, Progressive). Alex Masi - Guitar Hero (Italy - Venice). In the eighties while overseas Hard Rock and Heavy Metal were exploding in all their sub-genres and becoming mainstream, in Italy Metal was exclusively underground. Here in Venice there was a band that emerged above all the others: Dark Lord, they played pure Heavy Metal, they released some acclaimed demo tapes and singles, some you can now find on Youtube. Dark Lord guitarist was Alex Masi, an incredible talent! In 1986 he left friends and band mates and moved to Los Angeles, one of the few Italian musicians to do it and the only one I can recall... who actually made it! In a few years he became a guitar hero in the hard rock and heavy metal scene, like his contemporaries Satriani, Vai, Malmsteen, Impellitteri, Kuni etc. Today Alex Masi still lives and works in Los Angeles and is considered one of the best guitarists in the world, he can play anything at the highest levels, from metal to fusion, from classical music to blues ... I see him a lot and when he's back in Venice for visiting, he lives 10 minutes walk from my house!!! I can't say we are friends, but we have common acquaintances and we often meet around town as we basically go to the same places. Highly recommended anyway if you love guitar or you are a guitarist! - 1990s. Lacuna Coil - Gothic Metal (Italy - Milan). I lived in Milan for all the nineties, the number 1 city in Italy if you loved Heavy Metal! At the time I used to attend all the places for the true metal fans in town: the Midnight, the Revenge, the Transilvanya, the Rock Planet, the Factory, the glorious Rock FM (first Hard & Heavy radio in Italy). Among those who frequented these places there were also them, the members of Lacuna Coil who I saw countless times in the 90s. I must confess that I don't follow them much, but I know that today Lacuna Coil is the most famous Italian Heavy Metal band in the world! So I cannot but recommend them if you love the genre, in particular their first albums in the 90s. Glad to have known them and to have witnessed their birth and rise in those days! We were young and wild and free ? As concerns the 90s check out also Extrema (Thrash/Groove Metal) and our "holy trinity" of Power Metal Rhapsody of Fire, Domine, Labyrinth. - Today. Messa - Doom Metal (Italy - Venice - Padua). I strongly believe Messa is in this moment one of the biggest Doom Metal bands around, with a future that can only be radiant. I always thought of a legendary line that united the first Black Sabbath (at least until Sabbath Bloody Sabbath) with the first Candlemass (up to Nightfall). Today Messa is added to this line (of mine), which now tells: Black Sabbath - Candlemass - Messa. Highly recommended! P.s. Check out on Youtube their fantastic 11 minutes video they made in 2019 here in Venice for their song "She Knows" ! As concerns 2000s check out the fantastic parody band Nanowar of Steel (Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Folk Metal and many other things...) and our "holy trinity" of Death Metal Fleshgod Apocalypse, Hour of Penance, Sadist. Ciao!
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  2. In my experience, it seems like we are experiencing a shift in how we look at labels in the industry. With how easy it is to access distribution with services such as CDBaby, the only real thing that labels seem to have an advantage on these days is marketing. That being said, having done both, being on a label and releasing music independently, I have found that I end up getting a better return off of music that I released myself over what we released through a label.
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  3. I suppose that this thread is a reflection on my earlier post about record labels. The most successful bands are signed to labels. I know however that the music industry is largely fools’ gold. Just ask all of those talent show winners turned one hit wonders. On the one hand, I am pleased that a lot of young bands are forging a career without record labels, but I am also aware that those bands are not well known, and may never be sufficiently well known to allow them to make serious money – ie the money they need to move out of their parental homes. And so I find myself reluctantly wondering if the future does not in fact lie with bands signed to labels. The trouble is that I cannot think of any young metal bands which are well known. Young bands I know of are inspired by Metallica and Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple and the like. Imagine if Metallica and Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple had never been well known in the first place. Where would we be now?
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