There s always been much interest, within Metal-community, about N.W.O.B.H.M. and the US Metal scene, during the Œ80s. Unknown to many, Italy also had a lot to offer by way of some great Metal-bands.
DARK LORD hailing from Venice (yes, the beautiful city built on the sea!) has been widely recognized, through the years, as one of the best and most influential of them all.
Formed during the Summer of 1982 with Alex Masi (on guitar), Paolo Muffato (on bass), Sandro Bertoldini (on drums) and Gable Nalesso (on vocals), the foursome entered the "Collage Studio" one year later and recorded their first work called ³Painless Tape². Three of the eight recorded songs were featured on their self-released debut EP simply called "Dark Lord" while the other five stayed unreleased until now.
On this CD reissue you could find 3 of them: "Lady Sky Drive", "Is It My Way" and the beautiful instrumental "Red Fire".
A few months later (May 1984), another tape was recorded feauting 5 songs. That you will have the chance to listen FOR THE FIRST TIME on this CD!
In the meantime, as a result of some personal issues, Paolo Muffato decided to leave the band and was replaced by Al Guariento.
Unfortunately, lack of promotion and difficulties in finding the right partners to spread the Dark Lord-word led to the disbanding of the group only to re-form, some months later, with a new line-up featuring the re-recruited Paolo Muffato and a new singer, Emanuel Jenée.
Stronger-than-ever with this line-up, Masi, Bertoldini, Muffato and Jenée entered the studio again to record 4 brand new songs, which have also never beennever released until now.
Leaving the original Black Sabbath/Iron Maiden-like sound, Dark Lord s music became more melodic and American-oriented, strongly influenced by the new Class Metal style played by US bands such as Dokken and Ratt.
During 1985, after having played as opening-act for Saxon s italian tour, Dark Lord released their 2nd EP called "State Of Rock", featuring another 4 brand new tunes. This record brought the band international recognition (reviews and interviews with european and american magazines surfaced in numbers) but, at the end, nothing "real" happened.
Between 1985 and 1986, fed up with this situation, guitar-virtuoso Alex Masi decided to go out on his own, recording some new songs and shopping them around. Contacted by Metal Blade USA, Masi decided to leave Italy to reach Los Angeles, where he started a successful solo-career (he recorded 11 albums up to date). He s still living in L.A today.
Masi's leaving marked the end of the first chapter in the Dark Lord¹s career.
These were really "The Metal Years" for the band and these tough yet great times are told musically in this Cd.
Have a good trip back to these unforgettable years and with this timeless music!!!

 

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