COUNTRY: Italy
YEAR: 1991
STAND-OUT TRACK(S): Baphomet, Inquisitor, Family Vault, Where Have You Gone?
STAND-OUT TRACK(S): Baphomet, Inquisitor, Family Vault, Where Have You Gone?
Founded in 1977 by Paolo Catena (guitars) and Stefano Silvestri (vocals), the line-up was soon complete with the addition of Daniele Ugolini (bass) and Tommaso Castaldi (drums). All four members took as artistic names the way their names would be in English: Paul Chain, The Death (guitars), Steve Sylvester, The Vampire (vocals), Danny Hughes, The Mummy (bass) and Tommy Chaste (I), The Werewolf (drums). Paul Chain and Steve Sylvester soon started to compose their first songs: "Terror" (1977), "Zombie" (1977), "Horrible Eyes" (1978), "Murder Angels" (1979), "The Hanged Ballad" (1979), etc.
Contrary to popular belief, there were line-up changes from 1977 to 1982. As Steve Sylvester stated in an interview for trumetal.it webzine on December 2005, Danny Hughes were really two individuals, the same way Tommy Chaste was three. It all came from my haste to quickly establish the names of the musicians that were part of the band, in a sort of magical pact. The first Danny Hughes (Daniele Ugolini) was the first guy that played the bass in the band, but […] he was substituted by Gabriele Tomassini, who became the new Danny Hughes. As for the musicians nicknamed Tommy Chaste, nothing is known about the first out of his real name (Tommaso Castaldi). The second was Franco Caforio (who later gained fame with the Italian rock band Litfiba) and took the name of Thomas Chaste. The third one (Andrea Vianelli; the first one to be called with the compound name Thomas Hand Chaste) was entered in Death SS in October 1980. There’s only one recording available previous to the entrance of Andrea Vianelli, that is the rehearsal version of Zombie from 1979 released on Zombie/Terror single, contained in The Cursed Singles Boxed set (1995).
 |
| The official tape release from 1991 Thailand, that for some unknown reason is titled ”Heaby Demans”!?! |
Claudio Galeazzi (Claud Galley, The Zombie) also entered the band in 1980 as a rhythm guitar player, and Death SS became a quintet. This line-up recorded the demo The Horned God of the Witches (1981), unreleased as such for the general public (only two copies exist) but contained in The Story of Death SS compilation LP (1987).
The Mummy, Gabriele Tomassini, left in 1982 and Claud Galley took the bass instead. Again as a four-piece, the band recorded the Demo II. More songs were composed, but not recorded before Steve Sylvester left the band.
After Steve Sylvester’s departure in 1982, Paul Chain kept on recruiting Sanctis Ghoram (Piero Gori) on vocals. With him, the band released the Evil Metal EP and contributed with the song "Black and Violet" for the Heavy Metal Eruption compilation in 1983.
Music video to ”Where have you gone?”
Please report dead links!
Other songs composed (but recorded only as live versions) while he was in the band include "The Bones and the Grave", "Death and Love" and "The Evil, the Sorrow", the last released later by Paul Chain Violet Theatre in 1986.
Paul Chain had the feeling that the band was not already the same without Steve Sylvester, so he decided to drop out the name and focus on his solo project, Paul Chain Violet Theatre, in April 1984.
Three years later, Paul Chain released The Story of Death SS, 1977-1984. After a relative success of this compilation, Steve Sylvester recorded the copyright for the band’s name and moved to Florence, recruiting new members from the local scene to rerecord his old songs (which are mainly featured on their first two LPs) along with some new ones.
After releasing their completely new compositions on Heavy Demons, the band slightly changed its name to Sylvester’s Death for its subsequent Cursed Concert and Straight to Hell EP in 1992/1993 (to avoid controversy and confusion in Germany with the SS part of its name). Meanwhile, Steve Sylvester recorded his first solo album (with members of the old Death SS) and spent some time to clear up ideas while releasing hard-to-be-found miscellany like Horror Music: The Best of Death SS.
The SS in the band's name is the initials of their singer, Steve Sylvester.
Please report dead links
LINKS:
