Death SS LPs Out Now

OUT NOW!

Death SS “The Story of Death SS” LP
ANTI-GOTH 623

Death SS “The Cursed Singles” LP
ANTI-GOTH 624

-Officially licensed reissue of a classic early years compilation.
-Gatefold jacket with metallic violet foil stamp.
1First 100 orders will receive the limited color vinyl.

(Biography by C. Conrad)
The full story of Death SS is one that spans over forty years, but as with most bands that have had a truly revolutionary historical impact, it is the formative years of the band’s existence that are most significant. “The First Seal,” as it is described by band founder and creative director, Stefano Silvestri, encompassed the years between the band’s conceptual genesis in 1977 and Silvestri’s temporary departure in 1982. During this time, Silvestri envisioned and created an entity that would permanently alter the trajectory of heavy rock, metal, punk, and other related genres. As a boy in the provincial capital of Pesaro, Italy, on the country’s Adriatic coast, Silvestri’s vision was initially inspired by imagery conjured in the comic books of RG Publishing and that of Hammer films like “The Vampire Lovers,” “Lust for a Vampire,” and “Twins of Evil,” as well as books such as those in Sabellicus’ “Magia Pratica” trilogy. Additionally, the robed characters that would later take the musical stage as Death SS were abstractly based on the satanic Templar Knights depicted in Spanish director Amando de Ossorio’s filmography, prior to being actually sketched by Silvestri himself during downtime in school. Silvestri’s first band – The Smooth – did not adopt this ghastly visualization that would eventually come to fruition with Death SS. Instead, The Smooth assumed more of a glam rock image and was relegated to simply rehearsing cover versions of their favorite bands of the moment in the basement of the Silvestri family home. That said, young Stefano had already begun his journey towards the darkness by practicing meditation and invocational rites in the attic of the same home, alongside his growing library of occult literature. In fact, the attic and basement would later be labeled “As Above” and “So Below,” respectively, and Death SS would utilize the two spaces for both the band’s mystical and musical rites. If there were a single experience that would serve to crystallize the direction that his life’s work would soon take, it was a 1977 visit to England as a fourteen-year-old, where he discovered punk rock and thus became acquainted with the underpinnings of the musical vehicle by which his vision would be realized. This immediately led to the dissolution of The Smooth in favor of his newfound mission. Nonetheless, one song from The Smooth, “Exterminator Angels,” would later evolve into the Death SS standard, “Murder Angels,” after a series of different iterations and revisions. Silvestri first met his eventual bandmate, Paolo Catena, in the summer of 1977… (Read more in the product description)

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