Planet Metal #1: Italy!

Following the success of our Black Map feature that looks at the UK Underground Metal scene and pays some attention to the lesser lights of heaven, following the example of Pinky and the Brain, we’ve set our sights on conquering the World.  So each month we’re going to be picking an country and five bands that we recommend you check out on Planet Metal. So grab your beverage of choice and read on, if you dare…

Hailing from Rome are five piece Metalcore outfit Sharks In Your Mouth. Taking their name from I Killed The Prom Queen, they’ve been cutting their path through the Metal Jungle since 2011, first getting out attention with their 2014 cover of “One Step Closer” by Linkin Park and then delivering the goods with the brilliance that is “Sacrilegious“. 2020 has seen them drop single “Cult 404“, the first cut from a new concept album that looks at Cyberpunk culture and virtual reality…

If a mass exodus of members from Drowned In Sulphur raised an eyebrow, the rise of those band members in a new Deathcore collective Defamed who are fueled by hatred for the one that cut them adrift has lit the blue touch paper. A couple of skull crushing singles including a cover of Daddy Yankee’s “Gasolina” and the band have their debut EP “Aeon” dropping on 4th December 2020…

Napoli is home to Melodic Death Metal quintet JumpsScare who tore us limb from limb with the thunderous 2019 album “Don’t Get Close“. They’ve spent their lockdown time in 2020 testing the waters with a collection of covers including cuts by Emmure, Slayer and Lamb Of God. Does that mean their new material could have an injection of breakdowns and groove riffs? We’ll have to wait and see, but they’ve racked up the endorsements and have our attention…

An Emo Post-Hardcore band with a Glam Rock look, 11|34 have been making waves as far afield as America thanks to catchy sing-a-long choruses coupled with aggressive edged music and a melancholic atmosphere. Image AFI meeting The Cure and you might have something approaching the vision that they have. The statistics don’t lie, with both “Judas Friends” and “Feels Like The End” racking up 89k and 85k worth of Spotify streams respectively…

Signed to Famined Records, vocalist Andrea Prati and multi instrumentalist Andrea Tinelli are a duo that should need no introduction. Their Progressive Deathcore project Blacks0n created a “Cry for Inspiration” in Parma, a debut EP with lyrics deeper than an Oceans black depths and vocals caustic enough to cut to the bone, a multi layered piece of dark art. Not only do they find Catharsis in their cryptic writings but provide solace for those experiencing sad thoughts and troubled times.