Thelema - Burnt Memories
ARTIST........: Thelema
TITLE.........: Burnt Memories
LABEL.........: SmallVoices
URL...........: http://www.thelemaband.com
GENRE.........: Darkwave
QUALITY:......: 192 kbps avg/ 44100Hz / Joint Stereo
RIP DATE......: 2006-06-02
RELEASE DATE..: 2006-04-30
Tracklist:
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01. The Ballad Of Untold Memories 5:22
02. New Dawn 4:05
03. Stars Shining Bright 4:55
04. Suddenly 4:54
05. Ritual 5:38
06. The Wheel 5:19
07. Blissfully Peaceful 5:00
08. Black Whore - Black Mother 4:01
09. Fear / Hope 5:07
10. The European Female 5:30
11. Juice Of Life 5:05
12. The Song Of Dead Man Walking 12:05
Total 67:01
Release Notes:
The birth of a band is usually lost in legends or strange stories.
This didnÆt happen to THELEMA.
The band was born in the most usual way in Modena, during the Winter of 1984
when Massimo Mantovani, formerly in Blousons Noirs, bass player Giorgio
Parmigiani, formerly of Throbs of Pleasure and Gregorio Bardini, formerly in
T.A.C. gave birth to a band influenced by the ideas, philosophy and magical opus
of Aleister Crowley, and called it THELEMA.
The first need was for a drummer, and they found Marco Bucciarelli. This first
line-up wrote the first songs (The Golem, The Dance of the Witches, Sweet Pain,
and the obvious covers of Siouxsie and the Banshees and Velvet Underground
etc.). Influenced by the English dark-wave and post-punk of those times, they
managed anyway to give their songs a personal bias, with a strong tribal mix of
bass and drums which created a rhythm background for the guitar and keyboards
tunes, all covered by vocals not always sung but often screamed. The live debut
took place in november 1984 in Ostiglia (Mantova), where they played all of
their set. They recorded their first demo titled The Golem and the fall of the
dying gods with 5 songs and, on the b-side, a part of their first gig. In
december 1984 they recorded their first single, released in the first months of
1985 by Sandro BergamoÆs Signal magazine. Reviews on specialized magazines were
unanimously positive, and Thelema began a cospicuous live activity.
In 1985 Massimo and Gregorio also recorded a tape of ritual music titled
Rosa+Croce, whose first 93 copies were numbered in gold. The positive live
response brought them back in studio to record new songs.
Whilst these sessions were taking place Spittle Records got in touch with the
band, and after a short hagging the band signed their first contract. Around
october-november 1985 guitarist Davide Mussini joined the band, and Thelema
recorded the songs which were to become their first album (Tantra, Spittle
Records), released in the first months of 1986. This album, released with a æ60s
gatefold package, is still a collectorsÆ item.
At the same time Thelema played more and more, and acquired a strong following,
called the Thelema Contingent, which followed the band in many gigs whilst the
album made them known in a great part of Italy.
All specialized magazines reviewed the record favourably, whose main songs being
Magick, The Book of the Law and Rosa Alchemica, appreciating a dark-italian-wave
sound which had chosen to have no limits and, on the contrary, mixed in some
songs flute and electric guitars.
Thelema toured for two years in almost all of Italy but, notwithstanding the
positive results, the Verona gig in 1988 was the day of their first split, due
to the inconstant personal behaviour of some of the band members. Gregorio in
fact left the band, and so did Davide. Massimo and Giorgio remained and, after
some line-up changes (among the people who played with them we remember
StigmatheÆs Fabrizio Bucciarelli, MarcoÆs brother and Gianluca Artioli) they
decided to stop.
In the years to follow Giorgio and Massimo walked different artistic paths, but
were together as guests in an album, Vox Insana, of the electronic band Limbo,
former label pards in Spittle.
Giorgio and Massimo reformed the band in 1993, under suggetion of their old
friend and fan Maurizio Pustianaz (alias Gerstein), and began writing songs and
lyrics again. They almost immediately signed with Florence label Musica Maxima
Magnetica, ad in october 1994 they released their second album titled The Vision
and the Voice. The record featured Davide Grimaldi on guitars and Davide Borghi
on drums (both members of Diathriba) plus several guests, among which Paul Chain
and Steve Sylvester of Death SS, Simone Ballestrazzi fron T.A.C. and, obviously,
Maurizio Gerstein Pustianaz.
The album, with its main songs The Glory of the Hawk, Heavenly Wedding and The
Dance of the Witches, was released with a gig at the Co