Litfiba is an alternative hard rock Italian band with amazingly melodic elements, active since 1980. Exceedingly prolific, with a discography consisting of an enormous body of work, that contemplates full lengths, EP’s, compilations, live albums and many more, Litfiba is a highly regarded, powerfully sustaining and exceedingly original band, that has seen little success outside of Italy, perhaps due to the fact that their songs are sung mostly in the Italian language. With almost forty years of existence, the band consists of founding members Ghigo Renzulli and Piero Pelú, with a revolving cast of additional musicians.

Despite their metal outfit and influences, the sound of Litfiba fluctuates between hard and alternative rock, with the prominence of melodic elements, solidified by massive and highly concentrated doses of guitar lines. In their early days, punk and new wave influences mostly shaped the sound of the group, that, over the years, evolved to a more distinct rock sound.

An indisputable representative of a diversified and stylish authorial sound, Litfiba has yet to be regarded beyond borders. Little success outside their native Italy, however, apparently never was a source of concern. Despite their international potential, Litfiba acquired such a large fan base in their home country, that little effort was put on a prospective career outside their homeland. This feature probably made them more and more confortable over the years with their own language, since singing in English became rarer, as years passed by. Today, singing in their native Italian language has become a distinctive feature of their style.  

The sound of Litfiba is somehow difficult to define or categorize. Aligned in a mostly alternative rock “indulgence”, their style seems to fluctuate into the heaviness of metal, without becoming metal de facto. Melodic guitar lines serves as the basis of a characteristic style, easily identifiable, that for a long time now serves as a recognizing sonorous feature for the band.

Being such an incredible act, it is a shame that they are so little known outside their home country. With such a remarkable potential, Litfiba should have been bigger, but they had preferred to remain authentic! Singing in a native language other than English is a genuine act of courage and non-conformity, that not only will limit the scope and the achievements of a band, but will greatly diminish its potential throughout the course of its career. In a predominantly anglophile world, to sing in English is an easier way to become mainstream, and specially, radio friendly. But being an impressive, highly skilled and exceedingly authentic band, Litfiba shunned all of these features, in favor of creating and building a conceivably genuine artistry, which shows that they are not just amazingly skilled musicians, but brave and original artists as well!!    

Band names have been a source of speculation since the very beginning. In many interviews, the question "where does the band name come from? What does it mean" appears. Besides, many bands prefer a name in their own language or even better, a local dialect. That results in tongue-twisters like "Paracoccidioidomicosisproctitissarcomucosis" (a Mexican grindcore band) or "Archaeopteryx Ultraavantgarda" (a krautrock band).

I've been fascinated with band names since I got obsessed with music. I've seen a lot of weird, unexplainable and unpronouncable names in my life. And, since I'm a writer for a music magazine, I thought it would be a good idea to create a series dedicated to the wonderful art of naming your band. In these series we translate, speculate, remember, look up and sometimes even ask the band about it.

For those who wonder: the logo on the shirt in the picture above says "Hljómsveitin Nafn", which, according to Google Translate is Icelandic for "band name".

Let's kick of with the very band that inspired me to start writing these series, Belgian blackened sludge horde Alkerdeel. You know, the guys with the farting demon on the cover who blasted everyone's mind at the most recent edition of Desertfest Antwerp (read). 

Alkerdeel is one of those bands that searched through their own dialect to find their name. They were looking for a strong sounding word with a special kind of meaning, something that would fit their filthy, raunchy sound. Eventually, they ended up naming themselves Alkerdeel, which is "Zomergems" for "shit car", something like this:

A few days ago, Wagner sent in his review for the new album by Dutch black metal horde Tarnkappe (read). Later that day, a friend of mine read it and tried to find a meaning for the band name. We googled a bit, eventually coming across the German version of Wikipedia.

Apparently, the word "tarnkappe" translates as "cloak of invisibility". I know, maybe not as surprising or shocking as "shit car" but still, it has something mythical and it's an excellent word for a black metal band. Besides, I'm quite enjoying the album as well.

Two of the most iconic bands in the world in their respective genre have one thing in common, they're thieves. Metallica was actually one of two possible names for a metal magazine, written and printed by a friend of Lars. Lars adviced to go with "Metal Mania" because he thought "Metallica" would be a good name for this new band he just started, at least better than "Blitzer".

A similar story with synthpop pioneers Depeche Mode, who stole their name from a French fashion magazine. The name pretty much translates as "fashion news". But, stolen or not, when Dava Gahan entered the band, everything changed for the people who called their previous bands No Romance in China, Norman & the Worms, French Look & Composition of Sound

This Belgian doom metal band has been one of thé revelations in 2015. Personally, I'm eagerly awaiting their upcoming album and a few gigs in support of it. But where does their name come from? 
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Well, for this, we have to reach our bibles. Bathsheba is also called "daughter of the oath". She was the wife of Uriah the Hittite, and afterward of David, by whom she gave birth to Solomon, who succeeded David as king.

Apparently, her story is more lustful and exciting than "50 Shades Of Grey". It's a tale of adultery, punishment and revenge. But you can read all about that here.

Another story:

​Bathsheba Sherman was the evil spectre of an 1800's devil worshipper, and was the main antagonist of the 2013 movie The Conjuring, based on the "true" story of the Haunting in Harrisville, Rhode Island. Read more about that here.

Of course, un-biblical and only vaguely interested in movies as I am, for me there's only one Bathsheba, and that one sounds like this:

According to the story, the band's name simply comes from a letter shoved into the mailbox at the house the band was rehearsing. They were brainstorming for a decent name when the letter came in, addressed to "The Residents". So the brainstorm was over,and the band could go on making this weird but fascinating legacy.

In a 1992 interview guitarist Andy Cairns admitted that it was a chance design when he was working on band's first record sleeve. Working with Letraset transfers, Cairns misaligned the band's name, and used the "?" icon to fill the space to the right. "And then we thought, well maybe we can bluff our way through when people start reading into it".

We end this first edition of "What's in a bandname" with three projects from Merchants Of Air writers. Why? Well, a bunch of reasons. First: I know these stories by heart so I don't have to look things up, which is welcome since I got some other stuff to do. Second, we deserve a little attention too. Third: it makes this blog varied and we love variation. So here we go.

Today, my music is no longer angry and spiteful, no longer harsh noise (although - and here's a premiere for you - there is something noisy coming up) but the name remains. It's good name.

Serge

The world of dance music has been stealing (or 'borrowing') from the pop and rock scene for ages. Just think about some of those horrible, soulless dance versions of songs like 'Sweet Child O'Mine' (by Milk Inc), 'Billy Jean' (by Crew 7) or Britney's mind numbing adaptation of 'I Love Rock 'n Roll' which was already a cover to begin with. Well, rockers and metalheads sure know a thing or two about remaking old songs as well, often with quite interesting results. Here are fifteen electronic songs, turned into rock and metal anthems. 

We kick things off with a band that has dedicated two entire albums covering eighties new wave and electro songs. Out of these 'Werk 80' albums, we picked Visage's 'Fade To Grey', initially a dreamy electronic pop song, now turned into an absolute dark dancefloor filler. Once starting out as a death metal band, Atrocity has been going to a lot of changes throughout the years, this cover project being just one of the many incarnations, but a damn good one if you ask me.

Suicide, the duo of Alan Vega and Martin Rev recorded this song way back in 1977 with primitive electronics and drum machines. This, and other songs, made them responsible for an entire wave of industrial and noise music. Enter industrial metal horde Bloodstar, who recorded a harsh cover version for their album 'Anytime Anywhere' on a compilation by Roadrunner Records. It's actually this song, that started my fascination for metal covers.

Good ol' Rammstein and their shenanigans. The first song I heard them cover was one by the Ramones, and I remember thinking "I hope they never do that again". But, Rammstein never listens to me so they went on covering other stuff, including this awesome version of Kraftwerk's 'Das Modell'. Speaking about dancefloor fillers... By the way, don't mind the video, it's not the official one. In fact, YouTube muted the music on the official video. Weird asses...

Hah, you were expecting fifteen metal songs, weren't you? But I never said that, and besides, I can't go through this list without paying my respects to "the man in black".  His greatest cover of all time was probably Nine Inch Nails' 'Hurt' but since that's not really an electronic song, I decided to go with 'Personal Jesus' from Depeche Mode. To be honest, I think Cash made an absolute classic of this one, one I like more than the original.

Of course, we have to include this ugly dude in this article. Although Marilyn Manson has never been very high on my favorites list, this song is a smasher. Originally recorded and performed by Eurythmics, 'Sweet Dreams' has been getting a lot of people on their feet, regardless of the genre they usually listen to. Well, perhaps some people still prefer the original version over Manson's creepy, somewhat over-the-top performance.

A friend sent me this one, a metalcore version of The Prodigy's 'Omen'. Although I prefer the original, it isn't hard to see why a metal band would cover this hit. After all, it is already a pretty damn heavy tune, perfectly suited to throw in some distorted guitars . A little research brought me to Polish band Messa, who play "rock 'n core". All fine by me since this is quite a nice cover version.

Nadja's cover album is an amazing piece of work which includes some of the greatest covers I've ever heard. My favorite one on that album is Slayer's (Dead Skin Mask' but for this list I have to go with the megahit by Norwegian synthpop act A-Ha. Aidan Baker  and Leah Buckareff surely turned this song into an immersive whirlpool of drones, much like we're used to form Nadja.

Another one of my favorite covers comes from American "dead pop" band Orgy who added their industrial metal over New Order's megahit 'Blue Monday'. This cover version too had been a constant at parties, at least the parties I went to and dj'ed at over the years. It's actually still one of my all time favorite covers.

English extremists Cradle Of Filth have been no strangers to covers, but when this appeared on their 'Thornography' album, I looked at my speakers in sheer disbelief. Not only because the original is a simple synthpop song, but mostly because Dani and co turned it into something filthy, nasty and quite sexy. I never liked the original and I'm not going to say that this is my favorite Cradle Of Filth track but still worth mentioning here.

Of course, the punk rock scene has been barking out cover versions ever since pop songs became silly enough to make punk rock covers of them. Hell, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes thrive on that sort of things but this blasting gem by punk heroes Offspring shouldn't go unnoticed in this list. Not that is a prime example of musical ingenuity but hey, I prefer an Offspring moshpit over an Aqua dancefloor anytime.

Belgian metal act Manic Movement recorded this blasting version of Anne Clark's 'Our Darkness' for their 2001 album 'Future Dreaming Self'. I didn't know that before I saw them at Graspop a year later but I did know and love the original. So when it started slamming through the speakers, I was ecstatic and it kept going heavier and heavier. Maybe you can even see me in the audience on this video. I had long hair and wore a black t-shirt, shouldn't be that hard to spot me, right?

This English band seems to promote themselves as a "wedding-band" but they also play parties and festivals. On their YouTube channel, they published all kinds of cover songs, mostly with a tongue-in-cheek folk rock atmosphere or, in this case, tuning the whole thing in a joyful reggae tune. If Mister Kanish proves anything, it's the fact that cover bands can be original and entertaining enough to become something that people want to see. If they're touring and coming over to Belgium, there's a big chance I go see them. It'll be fun.

"Death in Rome is a Neofolk Group covering pop songs", that's pretty much all there is to say about these guys. Mind you, Neofolk usually isn't really overloaded with humor so this one is a bit of a surprise. In my research for this article, I've searched far and wide to find somewhat decent versions of old techno tunes. Apart from a bunch of metal, punk and grindcore songs, there wasn't that much original to find, except for Death In Rome. The bandname is a composition of the bands Death In June and Rome, and why not claim that the 'In' stands for Sol Invictus? Anyway, this is a brilliant cover and they have many more if you're willing to listen.

Several years ago, at a festival in Belgium, I was strolling around the terrain which brought me near the stage where The Dillinger Escape Plan were performing. I didn't really care about the band as I've never really been a fan of math core or whatever it is that these guys play(ed). However, suddenly they kicked of this bloody intense Aphex Twin cover. I was amazed, since I thought it was physically impossible to drum this thing. But look, here it is.

'Der Mussolini' by German electro act DAF is one of the best electronic songs to turn into a pounding metal song, as also proved by Atrocity. Yet, Swiss thrash metallers Coroner beat them to it and released this moshpit inducing piece of music in 1995 on their penultimate album 'Coroner'.  It still is one of my favorite cover versions, although I prefer Coroner's own songs. Still, I secretly hope I get to watch them doing this song live.

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