Italian death merchants Into Darkness are a very young band, teetering on the cusp of releasing their very first demo tape via Unholy Domain Records (which Iron Bonehead will then commit to 12” vinyl) but their sound is rooted firmly in the darkest, dankest corners of the past. Vocalist and axe-slinger Giulia Doomed Warrior asserts, “Into Darkness is for fans of death/doom in the late ’80s/early ’90s vein, like Asphyx, my favourite band, Bolt Thrower, Cianide, Coffins, Thorr’s Hammer, Disembowelment, Paradise Lost, Goatlord, Crypt of Kerberos…” and the list continues, as her passion for the most pestilential of death metal’s doomed offerings is made all too apparent. She’s got the chops to back it up, as well, as Into Darkness’ eponymous demo shows with its merciless onslaught of dirty, sewer-dwelling riffs, ragged howls, and searing solos.

“To be honest my first idea was to have a 100 percent female band in the vein of Derketa, Mythic and November Grief, but to find a skilled female drummer was impossible, and we are absolutely satisfied with Anguicious, both as musician and as person,” she explains. “We started to rehearse some riffs in late 2011, but it wasn’t until Anguicious (Mefitic’s drummer) joined us a couple of months later, that we started as a real band. These days we are rehearsing with a new girl on bass, in order to have a complete line up for the upcoming live assaults, and we’re already writing new songs for our future releases, that will most likely be a 7” EP and a split 7” EP with the US death/doom dealers Ghoulgotha, that is supposed to be out for Unholy Domain later in 2013. The new stuff is in the same style of the demo songs, but slower, faster, heavier and darker! We tuned our guitars a bit more “low” now, so expect your skull to be hammered!”

pic by Maurizio Mammaro