DISMAL are an Italian artistic and musical project formed in 1995. The first year was dedicated to experimenting with the new musical style, aiming at originality. Love for music and alchemy became a need for expression and Our Sad Saga was their debut demo in 1996, which was printed on CD and considered a great novelty in the European underground scene. “Our Sad Saga” contained doom and black metal sounds, approaching the nascent gothic metal genre.
The first full-length album was released in November 1998 via Pagan Moon Records (Audioglobe distribution), titled Fiaba Lacrimevole – Like A Red Bleeding Rose In A Glacial Desert. This album was an immediate success and soon it became a top selling album for the Label. In September, 2002 DISMAL signed a long-term deal with Dreamcell11, a division of Aural Music Group, to promote the band artistically and commercially. By the end of 2002 the band entered the Gulp Studio by Marco Calliari (sound engineering of Subsonica) to record their second CD titled “Rubino Liquido – Three Scarlet Drops…” using a 12-element orchestra.
“Miele Dal Salice” is the third album released in 2006, the band dedicated a lot of time to this record, full of bizarre and intense tones, characterised by gothic-bohemian and neofolk shades. In this new album, the band has collaborated with Rossana Landi, solo singer and double bass player. After a short but intense tour in Germany and Italy, protagonists of important festivals like the Wave Gothic Treffen in Leipzig and Berlin, DISMAL took a break and Afelio (guitarist and male vocalist) left the band due to personal reasons.
After this very long break, the band decided to enter the studio at the Punto Rec Studios with Fabrizio Argiolas (sound engineer) in 2013 to record the new album Giostra di Vapore. In this work, the band has created a new sound dimension fusing electronic sound with classical music, modern and antique meet together for a sound inspired by steampunk and the industrial revolution. The lyrics of “Giostra di Vapore” are always focused on topics like social psychology, alchemy and more spiritual themes. They released 6 video clips and participated in some live and big neofolk and steampunk festivals.
DISMAL in 2019 began the composition of their fifth new concept-album “Quinta Essentia,” concluding the recording in July 2020 at Gulp Studio with Marco Calliari (sound engineer). The band claims to have combined all their previous work, keeping their signature Gothic and theatrical sound constant.
In February 2022, with the new singer Caterina Accorsi (professional jazz singer), DISMAL entered the studio at Gulp Studio to record the new album, Via Entis, a return to the past, where they join to relive the path of the beginnings.
“Via Entis” represents the new parallel path, made with a higher musical and cultural awareness: starting precisely from the Middle Ages and its atmospheres.
Read our review here.
