THE BLOCK PARTY PITCH

Song: Battle To The Last Artist: DARKNESS This month I want to dust off the music of Darkness .  Some may say there are many bands with that name, but for me, there's only one Darkness. For those who are not familiar with the band, they became, in the late 80s, representative of what we could now call the purest old-school German Thrash style .  Their first two albums are cult items which I was lucky enough to have in my hands. Their records feature underground-drawn artwork that matches their vision of a world in chaos.  What I like most about this band is their raw sound. Listening to their albums is like being at a live concert. The sound of all the instruments is like a jab right in your veins.  I think I was really fortunate to enjoy their music at a time when their aesthetics  clicked with a world where chemicals, nuclear menace , and West-East tension were commonplace.  You'd better run for cover, since here I bring you a perfect discharge of Thras...

Song: A Mansion In Darkness Artist: KING DIAMOND Here we have this October post dedicated to King Diamond .  As I mentioned last month, we continue to look back at an essential act of heavy metal .  In my opinion, when King Diamond started his solo career , he took this new step by moving from a much doomier style to a power metal stage, and did so without losing that gothic essence he treasured. His albums are finely crafted, complex compositions, and his multi-range pitch singing stands out above it all. Here I bring you perhaps his greatest album . A concept album , and perhaps one of the  masterpieces of heavy metal . Get gripped by this horror film in the form of majestic heavy metal and enjoy one of the unparalleled voices of the genre. Time to light a candle . https://open.spotify.com/track/5s3pQ50lkH4d0Aj9RpGyrn?si=vGeFq_UyTNOjUfVJ2HCCuw

Song: Black Funeral Artist: MERCYFUL FATE This month I want to dedicate the post to Mercyful Fate , pioneers of heavy metal coming out of Denmark and one of the big names of the genre in the 80s .  And speaking about Mercyful Fate is speaking about their vocalist and frontman, King Diamond . But I will pay tribute to King’s legacy in next month’s post.  So be ready, because with this song and the one coming next month, the party is entering into the purest darkness.  Mercyful Fate’s music is a powerful discharge of heavy metal infused with sombre gothic atmospheres .  The songs of Mercyful Fate are like an unsuccessful attempt at breaking through thick fog, which will only lead you to doom and damnation.  Let's make the party grimmer with this Black Funeral . https://open.spotify.com/track/6nIs4qvvfxAL5l0oXk9n68?si=XewjPPsmRweTxNZWYzTGuQ

Song: You Can't Kill Rock and Roll Artist: OZZY OSBOURNE This month I want to pay my respects to a real artist who passed away last month. Ozzy Osbourne will always be part of the history of Heavy Metal as one of the major names in the genre. And I'm not going to speak about him beyond his records and musical performance. I am not interested in the celebrity. There are enough people adoring his life off stage, and this is a blog about music. So, no more tickets for the circus. I remember, as a teenager back in the early eighties, when I first listened to the album Sabbath Bloody Sabbath , knowing little about him and his band, Black Sabbath . They were one of the big names pushing Heavy Metal into a golden era, as an evolution of 70s Hard Rock . And this is the true thing. Ozzy Osbourne was a real icebreaker, breaking through the righteous. And he did it with a priceless legacy, his voice. Thus, Ozzy is one of the best singers in the history of Rock. His voice was unmistakabl...

Song: Winter Skies Artist: STRATOVARIUS  This month the band I want to talk about is one of the major names in European heavy metal . Forty years treading the boards is enough time to assert that this Finnish combo has reached a place among the gods of  Power Metal with a career full of progressive and melodic masterpieces .  Their creativity is in constant evolution and full of classical nuances that draw labyrinthine compositions and transport us to musical heavens.  Here I bring you a ballad in the shape of northern sky . A starred vault teemming with millions of beatiful musical notes.  Just click below to set off on the journey. https://open.spotify.com/track/5y75A9c3hNFGuYn01nMCBw?si=XqePc4S2SDif1BL7yXBv5g

Song: Storming With Menace Artist: KREATOR  With this month's post, we are going to shift up a gear. Welcome to Kreator 's world—a band born in the 80s to reign over European thrash metal and making Germany its core. I had the glorious opportunity of watching them live. Sometimes you realize you've been in the correct place and appropriate time.  That is, meeting this band when you are fifteen and they have just delivered one of the best albums of the genre— Terrible Certainty —and they come to your damned city to play it.  It's not until many years later that you understand you've experienced something unique. Kreator works like a perfect machine. Their guitars and basses function as loud cellos and double basses from a symphonic orchestra. Here you have one of the main titles from that unparalleled record. A whip right to your brain to keep you well awake. https://open.spotify.com/track/3YQkbfzR3SXv8XzgUsjYCY?si=uY3iJIL7SYC6s5jrJNYRyg