Monaco

As Timothy told us: “…the love of money is the root of all evil…”. Well, when I was looking for musick from the tiny (second smallest area in Europe, yet the most densely populated in the world) principality of Monaco, all I could find was that evil ole death metal. In a country of casinos & grand hotels, of Chemin de Fer & le Grand Prix, there probably aren’t a lot of jive dive bars for punk (or other up & coming) bands to hone their chops. Most of the musickians feeling themselves outside the ‘norm’ would obviously see easy opposition in the cult of wealth & corruption surrounding them. I’m not a huge fan of metal, but I’ve been coming to appreciate subtle (or not so subtle) distinctions within the wide genre.

I think this Monacan metal sounds really fine. Perhaps some of my favorite so far. I didn’t really feature any French black metal, which is a flavor all its own & I haven’t hit Italy or Greece yet, both bastions of large metal movements.

First up are two projects by Benjamin Labarrère or Duke Satanaël. The first is the Total Extermination demo EP from Uranium 235. This was released in 1995 ( the same year as the Zyklon-B’s Blood Must Be Shed  EP & both haunt similar ground…wonder what was in the water???). This is a blend of hyperspeed black metal, ambient guitars, vocals spewing echoed venom & a full-on martial feel. All instruments & vocals are by Nuclear Extermination (Duke’s nom d’demo). 

 Uranium 235 - Total Extermination demo, self-released, 1995.

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Tracks -

Nuclear Satan

A New Order, a New World

Sodom 1999

The Third World War

Next is the first album release by Duke’s main project, Godkiller. Titled The End of the World, it was released in 1998 on Wounded Love in a limited run of 500 hand numbered records. Once again, Duke plays all instruments & does all the vocals. This is metal, but it’s also electronic & rock. Awfully tastee.

*A note on why I try to only put up out of print, unavailable, freely offered or hard to find music & then why it pisses me off so much when the Sherriff of Interweb decides Metallica or Van Morison are losing 23 cents because someone posted up some song or album of theirs. There are real criminals out in the Net ripping off artists by illegally selling material that is not theirs.

Godkiller left this note on his website:

“I come out of my shell to issue a warning against a rip-off. Recently, a so-called label released the two first demos of Godkiller, Ad majorem Satanae gloriam (1994) and The Warlord (1995) on CD, without any permission, without any consent, without even informing me about this. I discovered this swindle quite by chance while surfing Internet.

This is an absolutely non-authorized version.

The guy behind this rip-off had even the impudence to present the CD as a “remastered” version. Given that these two demos have only been released on cassette some 15 years ago, the sound is inevitably bad and even worse as ever.

Needless to say, this guy sells the CD and all the money will go directly to him.

So please do not buy this CD.

Instead, I am very pleased to propose here a free download of the two demos, from the original recordings that I am the only one to have.”

If you enjoy this album, check out the demos & if you aren’t lazy as usual, you can drop Duke a line.

Godkiller – The End of the World, Wounded Love Records ‎– WLR 014LP, 1998.

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Side 1 –

The End of the World

The Inner Pain

Down Under Ground

Following the Funeral Path

Side 2 –

Day of Suffering

Nothing Left but Silence

Still Alive

Waste of Time

De Profundis

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Now I’ll switch to a much newer group from Monaca, Black Knight Symfonia. The group was started in January 2008 by Michael “Saga” Fiori - guitar with his childhood friend Julien “Siegfried“ – piano & other keyboards. They began as an instrumental unit, adapting classical music tunes (some Bach, Beethoven etc.) into a more neoclassical & symphonic metal way. They soon had written new original material & decided they wanted a female vocalist. They advertised in local ‘zines & put up flyers in local shops. Two weeks later they auditioned Anaïs “Nymphadora”. They immediately loved her powerful & pure heavy/rock voice. In June Adélaïde (Arya) was introduced to the band by a friend of Michael’s. After teaming up with Anaïs, the three were looking to add some operatic vocals to their music. Adélaïde had studied operatic singing many years in the conservatory of Nice & she is also fond of metal, so she was a perfect fit. In July Julien left the band to focus on his day job & personal life. Michael was already writing all the music & had played keyboards in previous bands, so he took over the duty of all instuments. The alchemy between Nymphadora, Arya & Michael was so evident and strong that he composed their entire debut album, Heavenly Chaos, during the rest of July. They entered the Harkam studio at the end of July for the “preproduction phase”. They began recording the final album version in September 2008. They finished the recording mix & mastering by the end of December 2008 with the aid of Leviathan as studio drummer.

Heavenly Chaos blends lots of different types of vocals: female rock vocals, female operatic vocals; male rock vocals; black metal vocals, death metal vocals). Add this to a style of music containing: classical music; opera; epic soundtrack; & metal. Very original sounding.

I’ve posted an interview with the band from Chazz & Marian from Sounds of the Underworld recorded in 2009. I’ve also included several songs from Heavenly Chaos & a tune from their upcoming as yet to be released Ancestral Torments. If you like this, checkout their myspace page (http://www.myspace.com/bksymfonia) & buy their musick.

Black Knight Symfonia –Various Items, 2008 – 2013.

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Emission09Sfuw - #08 Monaco nos presenta a  "Black Knight Symfonia"

Dragonland

Emerald Kingdom

Voyage Initiatique

Eternal Life

Hell on Earth – from Heavenly Chaos

Hell’s Gate from upcoming Ancestral Torments

 

Enjoy,

NØ