I first came across Paolo Girardi’s name when writing about the Italian nuclear incinerator known as Blasphemophagher (here). Girardi painted the cover art for Blasphemophagher’s latest album, The III Command of the Absolute Chaos, which you can see above. He has painted many more album covers for metal bands, though it took a link from Rev. Will to one of Girardi’s most recent creations to remind me that I intended to explore his work in depth.
Girardi, who is also from Italy, doesn’t limit himself to album art for metal bands. He also paints landscapes, for example, such as these:
The artwork is very detailed and very realistic, and yet it also has a surreal quality. And in the case of the album covers, he vividly captures some grotesque/hellish images. Like this one:
This is the cover for a 12″ MLP called Black Mass Into The Church Of Rats by an Italian band named In League With Satan. I don’t know which album this next artwork is for, but I really like it.
And for those of you looking for more penis in your album covers, there’s this one, which is for the vinyl version of The III Command of the Absolute Chaos:
Girardi has recently added three new paintings to his Facebook album that are particularly eye-catching. This next one is just fucking stupendous. It’s for the next album by a Vancouver band called Tyrants Blood, which includes veterans of other bands, including Blasphemy.
Tyrants Blood have released two albums so far, plus a couple of splits and an EP. On their Facebook page, two songs from those earlier releases are available for free download. I’ve listened to both of them and want more. This is speed metal from hell for sure.
“Torn From the Sky” – Crushing Onward Into Oblivion (2010)
[audio:https://www.nocleansinging.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/TYRANTS-BLOOD-Torn-From-The-Sky.mp3|titles=TYRANTS BLOOD-Torn From The Sky]“Destruction Consuming” – Tyrannous Mutations of Sathanas (split) (2008)
[audio:https://www.nocleansinging.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/TYRANTS-BLOOD-Destruction-Consuming.mp3|titles=TYRANTS BLOOD-Destruction Consuming]The new album will be called Into the Kingdom of Graves. It appears the recording of it is almost finished.
Here’s another Girardi cover for a not-yet-released album. This awesome rendering was done for a French band called Warpstone:
Like Tyrants Blood, Warpstone is a new name to me. I think they have a MySpace page, which you can find at this location, but there’s no music there, or anywhere else that I’ve been able to find.
Here’s another new, stunning album cover by Paolo Girardi. This one is for a forthcoming release by another French band named Stav:
Stav self-released a 2010 demo called Possessed By the Metal Soul, and it appears that Chalice of the Blood Angel will release the band’s next offering, which will feature that Girardi painting. Four of the songs from Stav’s demo are available for streaming and download on Bandcamp, including a cover of “Funeral Bitch” by Master. The music is a cross-breeding of black metal, thrash, and punk, with some psychedelia thrown into the mix, too. Good stuff. Check it out:
Now, here’s one more painting by Madman Girardi. He recently added this to his Facebook photo albums, and describes it only as a commissioned work for an unidentified private client. It’s fuckin’ sweet, in an extremely bizarre kind of sweetness
19 Responses to “EYE-CATCHERS: PAOLO GIRARDI (plus TYRANTS BLOOD, WARPSTONE, and STAV)”
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1) SKULLS.
2) This stuff is great.
Also,
3) EYEBALLS
4) TENTACLES
5) BOOBS
6) Yessir, this stuff is great.
PENIS too!
This shit is sick!!!! heard a couple of songs from Blasphemophagher and liked it right away!!! Mr. Girardi knows his stuff!!!! damn the guy is talented as hell!!! ohh anb by the way fan of your work Mr. Islander!!! Cheers from Dominican Republic
Thank you Rafael! Still blows my mind that we’re being followed by so many people outside the U.S.
Your welcome man!!! Love this site and have to check it every single day!!!! \m/
Those were some disturbing paintings… One didn’t notice any sharks or crabs though. Evidently, one’s own disturbed visions of the disturbing are different from those that others experience.
in any case, one shall probably never be able to reproduce such visions on canvas/paper/pixels like this – one immediately distracts oneself by imagining methane rain on Titan to save oneself the nightmares. (O_O)
How do these guys even live with such visions … even if only for the period of working on each painting !? Wow.
Man… nothing says metal like a bunch of horrific creatures with giant dicks.
Would love to have one of those framed in bone or something equally awesome.
WHY IS THERE MORE THAN ONE PICTURE WITH THE GIANT SUCKING ASS OF HORROR!?!?!
Beautifully painted though. Dude is like Michelangelo on a bad acid trip. (I don’t know anything about art.)
Haven’t visited in a while, but am completely digging the century gothic font. A man after my own heart.
Thank you for that, but the credit goes to a guy you may know, groverXIII, who reconfigured the font along with the banner and background wallpaper. I’m just going with the grover flow . . .
here is some sound of the french band Warpstone related in this page.
enjoy the sound
http://warpstone.bandcamp.com/
Melting of several influences as black, heavy and progressive metal Warpstone take their inpsiration in occult and horrific subjects.
The band finally released his album in a 500 Limited edition CD with a awesome cover art by Paolo Girardi.
Visit our bandcamp if you want to order:
http://warpstone.bandcamp.com/
or Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Warpstone/317272448316852?ref=ts&fref=ts
The landscape artwork have been taken by the symphonic black metal band “Vordven” in 1999 for their album “Towards The Frozen Stream”, type it on google.
New masterpiece of PAOLO GIRARDI !!!
FOLLOW THIS LINK :
http://f0.bcbits.com/img/a3048892899_10.jpg
To order the album follow this way
http://www.kisskissbankbank.com/warpstone-new-album-into-the-phantasmancer-celestial-castle
Fantastic!
Why is Marcus Larsson’s 1856 painting listed as Paolo’s work? Right below “he also paints landscapes”. You might want to correct that bit. Great artists both of them, by all means.
I found the painting on Paolo’s Facebook image collection and leaped to the wrong conclusion. I’ve now replaced it with some landscapes that he actually painted. Thanks for the correction.