Malombra

Malombra is a project born in Genoa in 1991 from the ashes of the group Zess, in which vocalist Mercy and bassist Diego Banchero had both played. For the band's name, Mercy decided to adopt Malombra, in homage to the novel of the same name by Antonio Fogazzaro, a clear example of the late-Romantic, pre-Decadent literature of the late nineteenth century that was so dear to the two of them. Keyboardist Fabio Casanova, drummer Luca Brengio (already behind the drums in Zess), guitarist Mattei Ricci and bassist Mario Paglieri were then recruited (replacing Banchero, who had meanwhile decided to leave the project to continue his musical studies).

After a brief settling-in period, the band released their debut album, produced by Genoa's Black Widow Records (Malombra, 1993), which immediately won wide critical acclaim despite the group's limited resources.

In 1995, the group returned to the studio to record their second album (Our Lady Of The Bones, released by the same Black Widow only the following year) with a new drummer, Andrea Orlando.

The years that followed were marked by intense live activity, which reached its peak with an appearance at a major festival held in Budapest, featuring names of the calibre of Iggy Pop, Prodigy and Stone Roses, among others.

The onset of line-up issues led Mercy to focus more heavily on a number of parallel projects: Il Segno del Comando, formed with longtime friend Diego Banchero, Helden Rune and Ianva.

After appearing on the horror-film-themed compilation “...E tu vivrai nel terrore” (Black Widow, 1998), the band underwent a major overhaul with the return of Banchero and the addition of Franz Ekurn on keyboards, Francesco La Rosa on drums and guitarist Roberto Lucanato. With this line-up, the group resumed its recording activity at full speed, appearing in 2000 on three different Black Widow compilations and releasing a new album in November 2001, titled “The Dissolution Age”.

After the release of the album Malombra, the band resumed its live activity, bringing a new guitarist into the line-up: Fabio Carfagna.

In 2023, again for Black Widow, the Genoese band released “T.R.E.S.“.