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SMELLY BOGGS were born early in 1995 from the union of four tuscan musicians coming from different musical backgrounds.

The 1995's line up was
MARK (Voice)
EMIL BANDERA (Guitar)
PRECIOUS (Bass)
DAISY (Drums)

The idea was to play a sort of California-oriented glam rock, but the various musical influences of the four guys, from SKA to PUNK, from AOR to POWER METAL, add to their music a slight touch of anger and violence that led someone to call it "POWER GLAM".

After the first concerts, at the end of 1995, the band recorded a demo-tape by the name D.L.B. ( short for DIRTY LITTLE BABY ). The demo-tape containing 5 tracks ( SEXY TELEPHONE, LESBO GENERATION, DIRTY LITTLE BABY, THE DAY OF THE SHIT e SMELLY BOGG ) was delivered all over Italy ( above all north and centre Italy ) in more than 1000 copies. Owing to the demo-tape SMELLY BOGGS have increased popularity and have appeared in the majour musical magazine such as : METAL SHOCK, PSYCHO and FLASH as such as in other fanzines. The band has been welcomed favourably and with positive criticism though the production wasn't one of the best for a demo-tape.

From the end of the 1995 to the beginning of 1997 SMELLY BOGGS played in a lot of venues drawing a longer and longer number of people to their own concerts. In july 1997 the band took part in the first "SUMMER DRAG" festival in Ospedaletti ( Imperia ) playing together with JOLLY POWER, STARRY EYES and HOLLYWOOD TEASZE.

In September 1997 SMELLY BOGGS changed line-up. RAY took over PRECIOUS as bass guitarist. With the new formation SMELLY BOGGS played in "BABYLONIA" ( Biella ) with JOLLY POWER, S.A.D. and ROAD CRASHERS at the first "GLAM 'N' SLEAZY ROCK 'N' ROLL PARTY".

In June 1998 with the song SEXY TELEPHONE, replayed and rearranged for the occasion, SMELLY BOGGS took part in a '98 DELINQUENT RECORDS COMPILATION, a glamour and gothic collection by the name "THE PINK AND THE BLACK" with the moust famous american glam bands like PRETTY BOY FLOYD, DEE SNIDER'S BAND, D'MOLLS, FOXY ROXX, THE ZEROS….. The partecipation in this project has enabled SMELLY BOGGS to be mentioned in one of the most impressive fanzine (made in USA) SPIN as a "revelation" band.

At the end of 1998, exactly in December from the 8 to 23, SMELLY BOGGS recorded their first promo CD (made by 9 tracks) at "WEST LINK" RECORDING STUDIO in Cascina (Pisa). 8 out of the 9 tracks were played in the recording studios and one of them, SEXY TELEPHONE, was added in the same present day version as in the '98 "DELINQUENT COMPILATION". 4 out of 8 were included in the 1995 demo-tape D.L.B. (precisely LESBO GENERATION, DIRTY LITTLE BABY, THE DAY OF THE SHIT and SMELLY BOGG) and the remaining 4 (KATTY, ONE DAMNED REASON, FORBIDDEN DREAM and BATHROOM) are the output of the last years of work of the new line up.

The production carried out in the recording studio by SMELLY BOGGS themselves, mixed by ALESSANDRO "OVI" SPORTELLI & ALE PAOLUCCI and completed in Jenuary 1999, was received favourably in musical magazines but, above all, at SELF (a significant Italian musical company). After the early agreements with SELF the band went back to the recording studio to launch 2 new songs: PARTY GAY & STILETTO STRUT (the former is the latest output of the band, the latter is a cover written by an american street band called ALLEYCAT SCRATCH).

The new and finished product, now composed of 11 tracks, has been wholly remastered and accompanied by an eccellent graphic work entirely conceived by SMELLY BOGGS and is at the present available in the best music shops all over Italy.

DEATH SS (= in DEATH of Steve Sylvester) is the first group that has been able to combine Rock with Horror and ,
first began recording material in 1988, leaded by Steve Sylvester, main composer of this group. He immediately showed a keen interest in the ideas of occult and horror, and he was greatly inspired by "horror" movies and literature.

Such energetic influences have enabled Sylvester and his adventures
companions to define their own lyrical-musical universe into a genuine gothic and obscure ambient. Moreover they 've always expressed on stage an original and even extreme penchant for theatrical and choreographic performances.

Hidden behind a disquieting make-up work, the DEATH S.S. have created the most classic Horror settings and characters,
inspired at least by the cinematic viewpoint of the British Hammer production's of the Seventies.

By presenting and enriching these ideas in a very personal manner, DEATH S.S. was able to create a "style", that has later influenced many other bands.

The result was then combined with a superb Rock-sound and was performed with a greater technical mastery, which, with its decisive sound, enabled the band to continue improving their sound, album after album.

After several contractual problems, the group reached an agreement with the SELF-Distribution in 1996, and founded the LUCIFER RISING Records label, where /in which Steve is also seen in the role of art-director.

The label's first release was the "Horror Music - The best of DEATH S.S." compilation, a double collection album with unpublished material, historical compositions and unobtainable singles, all digitally re-mastered and accompained by a voluminous colour biography.
The Lucifer Rising Records later re-issued this material in 4 CD albums, each one with bonus tracks

In 1997 DEATH S.S. entered at the Academy Studios in England,
where under Mags and Keith Appleton 's direction (Paradise Lost, Cradle of Filth, My dying bride, Anathema Etc.), the band recorded an album called "Do What Thou Wilt" , a powerful mix of killers riffs and gothic melancholy, enhanced by horrifying samples and a female backing voice. .

These lyrics convey the sexual-magic concept in the likes of the famous"Magus" Aleister Crowley", one of the most group's famous source of inspiration.

To support the album, the band organised a lengthy tour that culminated with a performance at the "Gods of Metal" festival in June 1998,
alongside Pantera and Black Sabbath, to name a few.

A piece of this tour, together with interviews and single video-clips, was later published in the music video The Night Of The Living DEATH SS.

This documentary style video , exclusively made for their fans,
offers a detailed and exclusive sight to the Italian band's mythical show.

Most of the following years were spent working on their next album, another decisive step forwards in the band's stylistic evolution. Backed by a more substantial budget, DSS asked for the contribution of the Anglo-American producer NEIL KERNON (Queensryche, Judas Priest, Dokken, Nevermore, Etc…), who had taken up this album production step-by-step, from pre-production session until the final mixage, in September '99 at Village Productions Studios in Tornillo, Texas.

In the new album DEATH S.S. returns to its original style of "Horror music", that had invented at first, once again recreating the atmosphere typical of the old horror films and thriller comics, and also including some refined ethnical' n esoterically references and a modern "industrial" technology.

The resulting effect is also enhanced by a acholarly form of production that bestows a devastating potency, which refuses to compromise the melodic return present in every single composition.

Another gift to the beholder of this new masterpiece is the renowned Chilean poet and movie-director ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY 's participation, author of many cult-films such as "The Holy Mountain", "El Topo" and "Santa Sangre", who contributes as author and as performer for the introduction and the conclusion of the album..

This work had been entitled "PANIC", a term coined at the God PAN 's honour, the god of the humours, love and confusion. The word "Pan" expresses the god of the woods' dual characteristic (a jester who provokes laughter and terror simultaneously), and it also encompasses the Greek term "Pan", that means "whole".

Within this is contained the very essence of DEATH of Steve Sylvester,
a subversive impulse which frees itself of all (moral, social, rational and aesthetic) restrictions, connecting "panic" with surrealistic theories, with "Shock Art", and with th magical-musical theatre which has always been at the root of their artistry. The album was preceded by the single "Hi-Tech Jesus", that, together with alternative remixes of the title-track(of which o new video-clip was shot), present new songs and a cover of the late lamented Screaming Lord Sutch .

A new tour was organized to support the "Panic" album, with new fantastic light-shows and multimedia effects; the first part of it ended again with a DSS appearance in the annual "Gods of Metal festival",
this time alongside Iron Maiden and Slayer.

The rest of the year was spent realizing two new singles taken from "Panic", "Lady of Babylon" and "Let the Sabbath begin"; the last one came out as double-feature dig pack version, with a bonus live-cd, recorded during the latest tour.

A new home-video/DVD with video-clips, live-shows and curiosity of the last period, is come out in these days. It also includes the amazing new single video-clip "Transylvania", and excerpts from the triumphant band's exhibition at the 2001 Wacken Open Air festival.
In summer 2001 the band teams up with the producer Fabrizio. V.Zee Grossi. His wide range of collaboration, spacing from ICE.T & George Clinton to rockers like Steve Vai, Nina Hagen (to name a few), opened a new vision to "IN DEATH OF STEVE SYLVESTER", taking the band to the cyber-harsh-punk approach of nu-metal bands with a distinct & classy background of euro-Goth. This latest work is co-produced by David Shiffman (Rage against the machine, System of a down, Nine inch nails, Red hot chilly peppers, Etc.), and this winning combination has given birth to a new STEVE SYLVESTER 's fatigue entitled:
"Humanomalies"- whose concept is upon the world of freaks- in which the band reaches its very heights in playing this kind of music,
song writing & ... horror disturbances

After the "Humanomalies Tour", a period of pause has been taken by the band, in order to organize the ideas and to start the composition of the new album. This time was filled giving to the press a collection of old and very rare material of the first DEATH SS's line-up, that one of the period from 1977 to 1984. The CD, entitled " The Horned God Of The Witches ", like the first band's demo, has represented a kind of gift made from DEATH SS to all those fans that from years continued to ask for the first rarest unavailable recordings drawn from singles and demos... The initiative, even though conceived in limited edition, earned a very good success, so the group between the end of 2004 and great part of 2005, taken the decision to undertake a new tour in support of it.
In this "vintage" tour, the band reproposed only all the old classics, with the old choreographies and wearing the old make-up and costumes...

In the meantime the works for the new album proceeded and DEATH SS reached again the producer Fabrizio V.Zee in Los Angeles, where " The Seventh Seal " taken life.

This album represent the ultimate step forward in the evolution of this seminal band, where the unmistakable and very imitated horror atmospheres of

the early years are skillfully mixed with the modern, anthemic and metallic sound of their last productions. "The Seventh Seal" is the perfect hinge between the past and the future of the band, the perfect closing of a magic circle started many years ago and gaining this uncommon band a cult status by fans all over the globe fully recognised...

The track listing encloses the single " Give'em Hell " endorsed by the ICW, the most famous Italian Wresling Federation, and also feature Clive Jones , former member of BLACK WIDOW in the scary title-track.

The CD "limited-edition" stunning packaging was wrapped into a real satanic pact, closed with a red sealing wax with the imprint of the band's mark...

EmilAtividades de Blog

Smelly Boggs Biography

Death SS Biography

EmilAtividades de Blog

Smelly Boggs Biography

Death SS Biography

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