DARK QUARTERER Join Cruz Del Sur Music - New Album 'Pompei' Coming This Fall
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Cruz Del Sur Music is proud to announce the signing of one of Italy’s longest-running metal bands, DARK QUARTERER. The label will release this November, the band’s seventh studio album, “Pompei”, on Compact Disc, Gatefold LP with an amazing artwork provided by Italian Artist Paolo Girardi.
DARK QUARTERER and Cruz Del Sur have a previous working relationship — the label released the vinyl versions of the band’s “Symbols” (2018) and “Ithaca” (2015) studio albums. “It was a pretty obvious decision for us to make,” says bassist/vocalist Gianni Nepi. “We’re honored to join a label with so many great bands and look forward to getting ‘Pompei’ in front of an even bigger audience.”
“Pompei” was recorded this January and February at the band’s own W.R.S. Studios in Piombino, Italy. Vocals and keyboards were tracked in May by sound engineer Andrea Ramacciotti, with mastering handled by Alex Marton of First Line Studio in Follonica.
According to Nepi, “Pompei” takes their sound to the next level, expanding on the bold, classic metal-on-prog sound they have been purveying since 1980. “The new album is cruder, perhaps a bit more visceral and intense. It has a dramatic atmosphere that surrounds the entire album — even during the softest of moments.”
Now at the 40-year mark as a band, DARK QUARTERER, who also comprise drummer Paolo “Nipa” Ninci, guitarist Francesco Sozzi and keyboardist Francesco Longhi, has faced many obstacles, but the one thing that has kept them together is their friendship, something that has helped the band maintain the same lineup since 2003.
“We have great passion and love for the music we make,” finishes Nepi. “Also, the friendship between the four of us really is the glue that keeps us together. Without it, we’re not sure we would have lasted this long!”
A making-of/backstage video of the recording process is available below:
Gianni Nepi - Bass, Vocals Paolo "Nipa" Ninci - Drums Francesco Sozzi - Guitars Francesco Longhi - Keyboards
BIOGRAPHY/LOGO
The band’s origins date back to the early 1970s, when, under the name of “Omega Erre”, the trio made up of Gianni Nepi (bass and voice), Paolo Ninci (drums) and Fulberto Serena (guitar) spend about eight years playing hard rock covers.
The group “Dark Quarterer” comes into existence in 1980 to provide an answer to the musicians’ own musical ideas. In the following twelve years the albums “Dark Quarterer” and “Etruscan Prophecy” are produced. For its deeply personal stylistic touch, the group is considered the creator of a new genre (epic/progressive). Both albums are still cult for lovers all over the world.
When the musicians are about to reap the fruit of their work, Fulberto leaves the band; it will take three years before the new solidality with Sandro Tersetti, the guitarist who takes Serena’s place in the group, starts bearing fruit. A new album comes out (“War tears”, produced in Germany), with a different sound for the contribution of the new member, which also belongs to that classic evergreen discography.
About five years later, Tersetti also leaves the group, and his place is taken by the then 19-year-old Francesco Sozzi who will give a new turn to the DQ’s style. Two new albums are produced, one with the trio line-up, the other with the contribution of Francesco Longhi at the keyboards; he will join the band permanently in 2004.
“Violence” and “Symbols” are the titles of the two albums which come out respectively in 2002 and 2008. The changes in line-up and record-making keep the band away from the stage; since 2004, however, thanks to the group’s increasing stability, live-activity has been constantly increasing and the band has taken part in many prestigious European festivals. Live concerts have also become increasingly more frequent, with their fans’ growing approval.
This all brings to the production of the Live DVD “Under the spell” in 2010 (a two-hour-and-a-half concert recorded in a 19th century theatre, located in a medieval Tuscan hamlet) and for the same year at least three more recordings are contemplated with My Graveyard Productions, a label with which the band has been profitably linked for a few years.
In 2011, still with the MGP they release a double live CD taken from the DVD "Under The Spell" and finally in September 2012 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the debut album, comes fully arranged and played by the current lineup, their first album "Dark Quarterer ", recorded as a new disk.
Next two years after that release, they worked at "Ithaca", the new discographic project that is released in April 2015 on Cd support by the label "Metal On Metal Records" and on vinyl support by the other label "Cruz Del Sur Music". The same year Dark Quarterer start the work at the next project programmed out at the end of 2016.
DISCOGRAPHY
Dark Quarterer - 1987 The Etruscan Prophecy - 1988 War Tears - 1993 Violence - 2002 Symbols - 2008 Ithaca - 2015 Pompei - 2020