This didn’t happen to THELEMA.

The band was born in the most usual way in Modena, during the Winter of 1984 when Massimo Mantovani, formerly in Blousons Noirs, bass player Giorgio Parmigiani, formerly of Throbs of Pleasure and Gregorio Bardini, formerly in T.A.C. gave birth to a band influenced by the ideas, philosophy and magical opus of Aleister Crowley, and called it THELEMA.

The first need was for a drummer, and they found Marco Bucciarelli. This first line-up wrote the first songs (The Golem, The Dance of the Witches, Sweet Pain, and the obvious covers of Siouxsie and the Banshees and Velvet Underground etc.). Influenced by the English dark-wave and post-punk of those times, they managed anyway to give their songs a personal bias, with a strong tribal mix of bass and drums which created a rhythm background for the guitar and keyboards tunes, all covered by vocals not always sung but often screamed. The live debut took place in november 1984 in Ostiglia (Mantova), where they played all of their set. They recorded their first demo titled The Golem and the fall of the dying gods with 5 songs and, on the b-side, a part of their first gig. In december 1984 they recorded their first single, released in the first months of 1985 by Sandro Bergamo’s Signal magazine. Reviews on specialized magazines were unanimously positive, and Thelema began a cospicuous live activity.

In 1985 Massimo and Gregorio also recorded a tape of ritual music titled Rosa+Croce, whose first 93 copies were numbered in gold. The positive live response brought them back in studio to record new songs.

Whilst these sessions were taking place Spittle Records got in touch with the band, and after a short hagging the band signed their first contract. Around october-november 1985 guitarist Davide Mussini joined the band, and Thelema recorded the songs which were to become their first album (Tantra, Spittle Records), released in the first months of 1986. This album, released with a ‘60s gatefold package, is still a collectors’ item.

At the same time Thelema played more and more, and acquired a strong following, called the Thelema Contingent, which followed the band in many gigs whilst the album made them known in a great part of Italy.

All specialized magazines reviewed the record favourably, whose main songs being Magick, The Book of the Law and Rosa Alchemica, appreciating a dark-italian-wave sound which had chosen to have no limits and, on the contrary, mixed in some songs flute and electric guitars.

Thelema toured for two years in almost all of Italy but, notwithstanding the positive results, the Verona gig in 1988 was the day of their first split, due to the inconstant personal behaviour of some of the band members. Gregorio in fact left the band, and so did Davide. Massimo and Giorgio remained and, after some line-up changes (among the people who played with them we remember Stigmathe’s Fabrizio Bucciarelli, Marco’s brother and Gianluca Artioli) they decided to stop.

In the years to follow Giorgio and Massimo walked different artistic paths, but were together as guests in an album, Vox Insana, of the electronic band Limbo, former label pards in Spittle.

Giorgio and Massimo reformed the band in 1993, under suggetion of their old friend and fan Maurizio Pustianaz (alias Gerstein), and began writing songs and lyrics again. They almost immediately signed with Florence label Musica Maxima Magnetica, ad in october 1994 they released their second album titled The Vision and the Voice. The record featured Davide Grimaldi on guitars and Davide Borghi on drums (both members of Diathriba) plus several guests, among which Paul Chain and Steve Sylvester of Death SS, Simone Ballestrazzi fron T.A.C. and, obviously, Maurizio Gerstein Pustianaz.

The album, with its main songs The Glory of the Hawk, Heavenly Wedding and The Dance of the Witches, was released with a gig at the Condor Club in Modena, then Thelema toured Italy for almost all of 1995, the new line-up including Grimaldi, Borghi and Saverio Tesolato (later of Autunna et Sa Rose) on keyboards: the band will never forget the mythical  gig at the Blackout Club, in Rome. In 1995 Thelema also appeared on Italian, English and German compilations, then released a single titled My Shout, a track from The Vision and the Voice, remixed by Pankow’s Paolo Favati. The single also features a new version of The Glory of the Hawk, with Ataraxia’s Francesca Nicoli’s voice.

The positive reaction with which The Vision and the Voice was met abroad, especially in Germany, where it was distributed by Discordia, didn’t take place in Italy, but led the band to plan a new record anyway. The songs that were to appear on the new record were written in 1996, marked by an angry and uncontrollable fierceness, a return to the punk roots of the past. Their third album was released in 1997 (Night of Pan, Musica Maxima Magnetica), with the production of Paolo Favati. For the first time Thelema worked with a producer for the whole making of a record. Guests were Fabio Leonardi on drums and Davide Grimaldi on guitar. The sound was a mix of distorsion and delirium, difficult to describe, an unusual mixing of distorted effects and reverberate changeling sounds. A sort of dub-punk-noise whose best examples were The Rain Poured Down, Six Six Six and The Watcher.

Critics were discordant: some wrote that the album was difficult to understand and too ahead of its time, some dubbed it as an attempt to mix the cards in a weak moment, some stated clearly it was a piece of genius, mainly due to ballads like Down in a Hole and Here We Stand. This new album brought Thelema live not only in Italy but also in France in Germany, but after the Kassel gig of 1997 (with Pino Dieni on guitar and Federico Gavioli on Keyboards) they broke up again.

It was a time for understanding. It was the time to walk different paths again, Massimo devoted himself to writing and Giorgio became a music producer and took part in many projects.

Thelema seemed to have buried the hatchet, but on an average day of the cold 2004 winter Giorgio got in touch again with Massimo, to have him listen to some tracks.

The fuse was surprisingly ignited. Mature and disillusioned, now producers of themselves, Thelema are working together again,  obviously without limits and outside the parameters and prejudices of todays’ musical trends.

Burnt Memories was released in May 2006. The album got very good reviews and, thanks to good distribution, is still available through many distributors worldwide.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          In January 2007 guitarist Gianluca Artioli (who worked with Thelema for few gigs in the past) and drummer Alex Facciolo join the band.                                            After writing some new songs Thelema start recording again with the help of Pino Dieni (another Thelema former guitarist, now on trumpet and viola).

The new album is titled “La Sangre Real”, and will be released on BLACK LIGHT DISTRICT label.

New line-up: in 2010 Cristina Atzori (Mumble Rumble, Stereokimono) replaces Alex Facciolo on drums.
New recording are planned, again with the help of Pino Dieni.