Heirs to the proud musical tradition that has seen the rise of technicolor metal icons like Motley Crue, Skid Row, and Guns N' Roses, Black Hill aim to become a new reference point for the adepts of the street metal creed in an Italy prematurely orphaned by the historic Smelly Boggs.
The sound crafted by the group undeniably harks back to the street n' glam orthodoxy directly stemming from the '80s. In the grooves of their debut album "Nasty Nights," the electric charge and magnetism typical of legendary sleazy metal acts from California such as Warrant (with clear analogies to their debut album), Bulletboys, and, primarily, Ratt, the legendary and pioneering band from San Diego supported by the Stephen Pearcy - Warren De Martini axis, resound powerfully. The distinctive clarity of A.O.R. (Adult Oriented Rock) is, however, wisely integrated with blues influences and biting forays into the dirtiest and most daring street metal, giving Black Hill a "maudit" aura worthy of the early L.A. Guns.
The band, originating from Livorno, gained extensive experience in numerous live shows around the Labronica area before achieving internal stability in 2000, a year that marked significant lineup consolidation: the competent vocalist Bob J. Low was able to enhance the sonic fresco created by the sharp guitar of Glitzie, benefiting from the invaluable support of an exceptional rhythm section, composed of drummer Phil Hill and bassist Roughy, whose aggressive and decidedly "heavy" style closely resembles that of Mark "The Animal" Mendoza, backbone of Twisted Sister.
The harmony and talent of the individual members create the conditions for a significant quality leap: the young Black Hill emerge from the niche of the Livorno underground to embark on two important tours, with numerous dates in Tuscany and Emilia Romagna's most important and largest venues, alongside the celebrated Smelly Boggs. The same year, they achieved second place in the renowned "Suoni della notte" music festival, which considerably increased the group's media exposure.
In 2003, the commitment and perseverance demonstrated by the Tuscan combo were finally rewarded with the highest Italian honor in glam metal, namely the coveted participation in the sleazy festival par excellence, the prestigious "Glam Attack" in Turin. The "dirty and raw" attitude expressed by Black Hill on that stage earned the group a shower of accolades and enthusiastic reviews from all the major specialized publications on the peninsula; the rise of the unleashed quartet now seems unstoppable, and each band member contributes decisively to personalizing the group's sound, creating a sonic offering still strongly tied to the rougher and smokier American hard rock themes but attentive to the modern solutions of the new wave of street metal, embodied on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean by Backyard Babies and Buckcherry.
To seal the magical moment for Black Hill comes the aforementioned debut album by the Livorno ensemble: "Nasty Nights" is a concentrate of pure energy, a work where technical expertise and passion marry in an orgiastic celebration of murderous riffs and sinuous, elegant melodies. Among the seven tracks that make up this majestic CD, melancholic ballads in perfect '80s style ("Strange Days"), fast-paced and unstoppable pieces, and genuine hit singles potentials (above all the ironic "Fat Love," the best "glam song for fun" since "Big Talk" by Warrant) alternate.
Black Hill's music inexorably veers towards the future, burning with a youthful and rebellious spirit, but the album "Nasty Nights" succeeds in the arduous task of reviving the glories of "metropolitan street n' glam" glorified two decades ago by immortal works like "Invasion of your privacy" by Ratt, "Dirty, Rotten, Filthy, Stinking, Rich" by Warrant, and "Pride" by White Lion.
The analogy with Ratt further catches the critical attention of every passionate fan who remembers the fundamental importance held in the San Diego band by the relentless rhythms of the powerful drummer Bobby Blotzer: his drumming perfectly integrated with the subtle tapestries woven by the brilliant guitar-hero Warren De Martini, much like what happens today in Black Hill with the well-synced pair composed of the pyrotechnic Phil Hill and the talented Glitzie, whose artistic talent drips copiously from his fingers.
The album "Nasty Nights" has been distributed, by the band's own initiative, throughout Italy and abroad (approximately 1,000 copies distributed on national soil and 300 worldwide) receiving a warm reception from critics and audiences everywhere.
Currently, "Nasty Nights" is also on sale in Japan, thanks to the valuable initiative of the Japanese distributor DSK.
In addition to all this, the high artistic value of the record has been noticed by the renowned American distribution house.
Braving all the adversities of the Italian music scene, always hostile to genres alien to the typical pop/dance/hip hop context and still tightly bound to the popular music and songwriter model (remarkable in many cases, embarrassing in others) of more or less improvised lyricists, Black Hill tenaciously carry on their personal battle of conscience, buoyed by the great results already achieved but aware that they reflect only a small part of the actual value of their ambitious project.
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