Paul Chain, Genius and Madman
Sometimes a genius, sometimes just plain fucking weird. One of doom’s most prolific geniuses. For the uninitiated, getting a sense of who this guy is can be difficult. He got his start in the late 70s with Steve Sylvester in Death SS, one of Italy’s most influential black metal bands. Then, right around 1984, it appears that he started to lose his mind. His studio output is no less than staggering—since 1984 he’s gone on to make upwards of 40 albums, singles, EPs and splits, and has produced and guested on countless songs and albums.
So where does one begin with Paul Chain? It sounds like a cop out, but start at the beginning. His first solo EP, Detaching from Satan, will give you a good idea of what he’s capable of doing. This is Paul at his best, and from this release it’s easy to see why he’s considered by many to be one of THE godfathers of doom. From there, I’d recommend In the Darkness, Life and Death, Whited Sepulchres, Alkahest, Park of Reason, and Unreleased 1 & 2. A lot of his other stuff is inaccessible and boring (Opera Decima, Emisphere, Cosmic Wind). Some of his very recent stuff can be downloaded from his web site. FYI, he doesn’t go by Paul Chain any more. Now he’s Paolo Catena. Or Paul Cat.
Whatever his name is, he’s a genius when he’s a genius.
