OvO

Hailing from Milan, Italy, OvO is essentially an international duo at this point, keeping up a rigorous yearly tour schedule that traverses Europe and North America. The act's sound could be termed "gothic power violence," in that its sharp-edged dynamics and acidic drones are an alloy of black metal's unblinking stare into the darkest depths of the human psyche, the capacity of power electronics to stretch the boundaries of acceptable sonic abuse, and a no-wave disregard for domesticated melodies. Bassist/percussionist Bruno Dorella sounds like he could be manning a resonant jackhammer in his pummeling, brutally textured rhythms, while vocalist Stefania Pedretti's tortured wails are the perfect companion to songs that sound like they were written by feral mutants living in a post-apocalyptic industrial wasteland.