Coms 210 Assignment #2: Memorable Concert Moment with Gabriele Mazzola

Coms 210 Assignment #2: Memorable Concert Moment with Gabriele Mazzola

    Standing upon a lighted stage with the adrenaline pumping and the crowd roaring, one cannot begin to imagine the unbelievable experience of performing in front of a live audience. Live shows give bands a chance to really connect with their fans. Metal shows especially are a place that can offer many memorable experiences not only for the insane mosh pit loving fans, but also for the guys on stage who are pouring their sweat and blood into each song. Live shows are a great chance for young bands to begin building a loyal fan base and start getting their music heard. Bands like Morbid Angel to Carcass had to start out from somewhere, and their live shows definitely helped establish their current icon roles within the metal community.
    In the case of younger metal bands beginning to build up their careers, one band right now from Palermo, Sicily is beginning to gain some attention in the extreme music world. Golah, a technical death metal band, pushes the typical extreme music blueprint by altering the straight forward death metal formula. Their 2013 EP titled, “Cerebral Collision,” was a small glimpse into the band’s creative musical minds.    
    Singer Gabriele Mazzola, who is also involved in two other bands, Screams from the Garage and Wlorg, expressed how playing music live in the area can be very difficult compared to just recording. “We try to play live but the music system here in Italy almost did not allow us,” said Gabriele. He went on to explain how most bands “don't want to share or expand his music, but want to earn above it.” His comments back Golah’s creative driven nature to take extreme death metal to new places. Reaching world wide Led Zeppelin rock star like success does not seem to be a priority for Golah right now. “We don't want to be rock stars, we want to just play what we really like,” says Gabriele.
    Now, even though Golah struggles to find gigs in their country, one show stood out to Gabriele which he went on to further elaborate. “My most memorable live performance is the live show I did with Golah in February 2013. We played at MOB (Palermo,Sicily) in the “Rise of the Underground II” with Dr.Gore (Rome),Throne of Molok (Palermo) and Cromia Oscura (Catania).”
    Gabriele explained how this show, put on by V.o.V events, really brought some great extreme bands together. When asked what stood out about that show in particular he replied, “There was a fantastic atmosphere” and “I loved when people were moshing and singing with us.” The night seemed to go really well and Gabriele went on to further talk about how he felt comfortable singing the songs live, but does not like announcing the songs. He tends to like the “adrenaline rush” from simply singing.
    This showed seemed like a special moment in the band’s young history. When asked about the special experience of performing live he summed it up with this statement, “From the preparation of the instruments to the beer, from the feeling you can't describe to the view of the headbanging crowd in your music, to the distro's(underground label) stand at the entrance of the concert.”
    Maybe one day the band will do a world tour and offer metal fans across the globe a chance to be in the pit headbanging to Golah. As for now, the band continues to work on new material challenging themselves to be creative with each new recording. Hopefully more memorable moments will come for Gabriele and Golah in the future as band continues to keep working hard.