Mario Di Donato (born 1951) is the leader and driving force behind The Black, an Italian doom/heavy/progressive project active since the 1970s. He is also a painter and often supplies his own artwork for the band's covers. The project is noted for Latin vocals, dark/mythological themes and a consistent underground following.

Frequently cited traits in the reviews: long career since the 1970s; Latin-language vocal passages; themes drawn from religion, Dante and mythology; Di Donato is also a painter and his artwork appears on several covers; some releases have been issued or reissued by the Black Widow label. Earlier bands mentioned in connection with Di Donato include Unreal Terror and Requiem. Guest musician Tony Pagliuca is noted on Ars Metal Mentis in the reviews.

The Black is the long-running Italian metal project led by Mario Di Donato. Reviews praise its doom/heavy/progressive blend, Latin vocals and painterly covers. Key albums discussed include Reliquiarium, Apocalypsis and Gorgoni. Overall reception on DeBaser is favorable, especially among aficionados of Italy's darker metal tradition.

For:Fans of doom/heavy metal, collectors of Italian underground metal, listeners of occult/progressive rock.

 The Black are considered a small legend among Italian heavy metal enthusiasts.

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 Mario Di Donato is one of the dark and cursed musical figures of our peninsula:

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 A monstrous album, “Gorgoni,” not only for the themes it deals with but also for its length, as it consists of seventeen tracks with a total duration of almost eighty minutes: a figure that might intimidate anyone, but not the admirers of a genre like doom, and even less the admirers of the artist from Abruzzo.

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