Tag Archives: Bergamo

Magnitudo – M A T E R I A L I S M (2026); Throne – Ossarium (2025)

Posted by valleyofsteel on

Hello, Party People!

I was going to mention something in this article’s salutation about hoping you are having a happy Monday, but then I got thinking about how it seems like I use that phrase fairly frequently. As it turns out based on a quick search, fifteen times (not including today) in total, or an average of slightly more often than once per year.

So I guess it isn’t really THAT much, actually, but it does seem a bit irksome that zero of the fifteen times involved any reference to the Madchester band of the same name, and a bit disingenuous that zero of the fifteen times have actually involved anyone having a happy Monday.

But at the very least, we can hope for a Monday that is less awful than it might otherwise have been? And to that end, I present you with a pair of albums. Both by sludge metal bands from northern Italy (specifically, from Bergamo and Parma, approximately 160-something kilometers apart, or 100-ish miles), and both released by the Dusktone label (one exactly one month ago today, the other roughly fourteen months ago).

Enjoy!

 

Magnitudo – M A T E R I A L I S M (Dusktone, 20 March 2026)

 

Throne – Ossarium (Dusktone, 14 February 2025)

 

Continue reading →

Humulus – The Deep (2020)

Posted by valleyofsteel on

Humulus – The Deep (Kozmik Artifactz, 28 February 2020)

 

If you couldn’t tell from the band name (humulus are the plants which grow the flowers we refer to as hops), that very cool cover art of a cephalopod holding up a beer bottle may clue you in: this Italian trio is birra-obsessed.

In fact, in the first ten years since their formation, these Lombardi gentlemen have put as much passion and effort into the development of their own self-titled brew as they have into creating three albums and EPs. So while their sound on this fourth release The Deep (released just a few days ago) may superficially resemble the style universally known as “stoner rock,” wouldn’t it make much more sense to call this “alcoholic rock”?

 

Continue reading →