Italian iconoclasts OvO present their eleventh studio album, Gemma, out October 3rd via Artoffact Records.
Stream the album's first single, "Opale" (featuring Lord Spikeheart), stream the album's second single, "Stagno," and pre-order the album, here: https://ovomusic.bandcamp.com/album/gemma
Translated from Italian as "gem" and also as "the bud of a plant," Gemma sees OvO founders Stefania Pedretti and Bruno Dorella continue down their long, twisting path of perpetual reinvention. Described by Pedretti and Dorella as "a manifesto of transformation," Gemma marks the eccentric and mercurial duo's 25th year in action.
With well over 1,000 shows played since its formation in 2000, and a slew of recordings released, OvO is a singular force in the underground. Taking inspiration from the likes of Suicide, Swans, and Diamanda Galas, Pedretti and Dorella pound out a mix of what Stereogum has described as "music – rhythmic noise, really – owing equal debts to extreme metal, noise rock, industrial music, and dark electronica." Decibel Magazine has hailed the band's sound as “a David Lynch dance party.”
A quarter-century into their journey, Pedretti and Dorella deliver Gemma, a masterpiece of dance-doom, where the electronic and analog realms intertwine in music that manages to exude inhuman coldness and smoldering passion, simultaneously. Stark beats, primitive synths, sludgy guitars, and Pedretti's otherworldly vocalizations – haunting and, sometimes, harrowing – combine in Gemma's indelible songs.
Alan Dubin, lead shrieker of avant-metal legends Khanate, gives the album his seal of approval, stating: “Gemma oozes like a wound that refuses to heal, pulsing with beauty, rot, and rebirth. OvO haven’t just made an album — they’ve summoned a living, screaming thing from the raw meat of existence.”
Gemma's first single, "Opale," features the vocals of Kenyan techno-metal phenom Lord Spikeheart, a kindred spirit whose work, like OvO's, gleefully smashes boundaries between genres. On "Opale," ethereal coos and maniacal screams intertwine against an apocalyptically hard electro beat. Gemma's second single, "Stagno," hooks the ear and hypnotizes the mind, by way of an insistent double-bass rhythm, euphoric riff, and Pedretti's distorted howl.
According to Pedretti and Dorella: "Gemma is a reflection on change. Gemma is metamorphosis, a challenge to immobility. It is an artistic gesture that aims to redraw the boundaries, to go beyond what has already been heard, towards new sound horizons. Each track is an act of creation, an alchemical passage through the elements toward a form of new weird life that blossoms, explodes, and changes."
Eternal road dogs, OvO will tour Europe extensively throughout the fall.
Tracklist:
1) Gemma
2) Stagno
3) Opale
4) Iridio
5) Diamante
6) Orocromo
7) Cobalto
8) Zolfo
9) Neon
10) Rame
11) Fossile
Lineup:
Stefania Pedretti - vocals, guitar
Bruno Dorella - drums, samples, synth
Guests:
Bruno Dorella - drums, samples, synth
Guests:
Lord Spikeheart - additional vocals on "Opale"
Paige A. Flash - cello on "Diamante"
Paige A. Flash - cello on "Diamante"
Production:
Recorded and mixed by Marcello Batelli at Aproblema Studio
Mastered by Giovanni Versari
Discography:
Gemma (2025, Artoffact Records)
Ignoto (2022, Artoffact Records)
Miasma (2020, Artoffact Records)
Creatura (2016, Dio Drone)
Abisso (2013, Supernatural Cat)
Cor Cordium (2011, Supernatural Cat)
Crocevia (2008, Load)
Miastenia (2006, Load)
Cicatrici (2004, Bar La Muerte)
Vae Victis (2002, Bar La Muerte)
Assassine (2001, Bar La Muerte)
Tour:
Aug 15 - Brescia, IT @ Area Feste
Sep 01 - Brussels, BE @ Botanique
Oct 03 - Castiglione Delle Stiviere, IT @ Arci Dallò
Oct 04 - Milano, IT @ Arci Bellezza
Oct 11 - Firenze, IT @ CPA
Oct 24 - Modena, IT @ Kalinka Arci Dude
Oct 25 - Padova, IT @ Pedro
Nov 07 - Pesaro, IT @ Arci Artigiana
Nov 08 - Taranto, IT @ Mercato Nuovo
Nov 09 - Bologna, IT @ Improved Sequence Festival
Nov 14 - Asti, IT @ Diavolo Rosso
Nov 15 - Imperia, IT @ La Talpa E L'Orologio
Nov 27 - Paris, FR @ Les Instants Chavirès
Nov 28 - Clermont-Ferrand, FR @ Raymond
Nov 29 - Lyon, FR @ Grrrnd Zero
Nov 30 - Basel, CH @ Mental Load Agency
Dec 01 - Zurich, CH @ Boschbar
Dec 02 - Freiburg, DE @ Slow Club
Dec 03 - Kortrijk, BE @ The Pit's
Dec 04 - Namur, BE @ Belvedere
Dec 05 - Utrecht, NL @ Moira
Dec 07 - Aalborg, DK @ 1000 Fryd
Dec 08 - Copnhagen, DK @ Rahuset
Dec 09 - Leipzig, DE @ Zxrx
Dec 10 - Berlin, DE @ Neue Zukunft
Dec 11 - Plzen, CZ @ Pod Lampou
Dec 12 - Maribor, SL @ Pekarna
Dec 13 - Wien, AT @ EKH
Dec 14 - Zagreb, HR @ Mocvara
Dec 15 - Ljubljana, SL @ Channel Zero
Dec 19 - Roma, IT @ Forte Prenestino
Cover art by Nero Atto
Photo by Annapaola Martin
Recorded and mixed by Marcello Batelli at Aproblema Studio
Mastered by Giovanni Versari
Discography:
Gemma (2025, Artoffact Records)
Ignoto (2022, Artoffact Records)
Miasma (2020, Artoffact Records)
Creatura (2016, Dio Drone)
Abisso (2013, Supernatural Cat)
Cor Cordium (2011, Supernatural Cat)
Crocevia (2008, Load)
Miastenia (2006, Load)
Cicatrici (2004, Bar La Muerte)
Vae Victis (2002, Bar La Muerte)
Assassine (2001, Bar La Muerte)
Tour:
Aug 15 - Brescia, IT @ Area Feste
Sep 01 - Brussels, BE @ Botanique
Oct 03 - Castiglione Delle Stiviere, IT @ Arci Dallò
Oct 04 - Milano, IT @ Arci Bellezza
Oct 11 - Firenze, IT @ CPA
Oct 24 - Modena, IT @ Kalinka Arci Dude
Oct 25 - Padova, IT @ Pedro
Nov 07 - Pesaro, IT @ Arci Artigiana
Nov 08 - Taranto, IT @ Mercato Nuovo
Nov 09 - Bologna, IT @ Improved Sequence Festival
Nov 14 - Asti, IT @ Diavolo Rosso
Nov 15 - Imperia, IT @ La Talpa E L'Orologio
Nov 27 - Paris, FR @ Les Instants Chavirès
Nov 28 - Clermont-Ferrand, FR @ Raymond
Nov 29 - Lyon, FR @ Grrrnd Zero
Nov 30 - Basel, CH @ Mental Load Agency
Dec 01 - Zurich, CH @ Boschbar
Dec 02 - Freiburg, DE @ Slow Club
Dec 03 - Kortrijk, BE @ The Pit's
Dec 04 - Namur, BE @ Belvedere
Dec 05 - Utrecht, NL @ Moira
Dec 07 - Aalborg, DK @ 1000 Fryd
Dec 08 - Copnhagen, DK @ Rahuset
Dec 09 - Leipzig, DE @ Zxrx
Dec 10 - Berlin, DE @ Neue Zukunft
Dec 11 - Plzen, CZ @ Pod Lampou
Dec 12 - Maribor, SL @ Pekarna
Dec 13 - Wien, AT @ EKH
Dec 14 - Zagreb, HR @ Mocvara
Dec 15 - Ljubljana, SL @ Channel Zero
Dec 19 - Roma, IT @ Forte Prenestino
Cover art by Nero Atto
Photo by Annapaola Martin