All Hails, Ghita!
Citadelians, welcome our latest addition to the Valkyries of the Citadel, Ghita! This Venetian black metal lover is a professional body piercer, has a deep affinity for writing, and has some controversial statements when it comes to Dimmu Borgir. Hear her thoughts on the scene, her metal tastes, and some of her epic gig tales.
Introduce yourself for our readers
Hi, I'm Ghita, I'm 25 years old and I live in Italy. I'm from Venice, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and for sure the most unique. A city with a powerful story, a lot of art and culture in general. I'm a professional body piercer and mum of two cats (Loki, a Norwegian forest cat, and Lumi, a white cat who saved me a lot of times during bad moments of my life).
I love to travel but not as a simple tourist on vacation, I want to discover the culture and habits of people from the country I'm visiting, I always try to live as they do, to fill myself with new experiences and knowledge. I also love drawing, writing, principally poems and novels, and reading, I'm passionate [about] philosophy, especially active nihilism, and art. Talking about metal, I'm more into the extreme metal scene so I prefer Black and Death metal but I also like Doom and other sub-genres, more generally I listen to artists who give me strong feelings, not just in metal.
I want my music to represent something: an emotion, an ideal, to tell a story, I think art should leave something inside you. I usually take inspiration for my art from sufferance, hate, bad feelings in general and I search this darkness in others' work too. I trust that sufferance can teach you a lot like how to live your life fully without superficiality and with more strength.
Quoting Nietzsche:
" The discipline of suffering, of great suffering - do you not know that it is this discipline alone that has produced all the elevations of humanity so far?"
Does your town/city/village have a good metal scene?
In the north of Italy there are a lot of good underground and also big events. I've seen some of my favourite bands here. Italy has some nice festivals too, a lot of important bands played in my country but it's not like in Czech Republic or other countries with festivals like Brutal Assault, Metaldays, Hellfest, Wacken and similar, it's smaller but still good...Anyway the scene is active and we have a lot of good local bands.
I think it's really important to support them and underground scene in general, I've discovered some really valid artists during little events here and in other countries too. If you really love and live metal you can't just go to big events, it's ok to go see Iron Maiden or other famous bands but it can't be just that, otherwise you're not really into the scene but just a fan.
How did you discover your love for metal music, and what drew you to the genre?
My parents listened to rock and hard rock a lot. I grew up with Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, Donovan, The Beatles, Pink Floyd and a lot of other artists like these. I've always liked heavy sounds, but when I was 12/13 years old Hard Rock wasn't enough anymore. I still love rock music and all the bands I've named but as I said I felt the need of finding something more destructive and monolithic. I remember I brought some books at the library which talked about hard rock and metal. I discovered Iron Maiden and felt in love with them.
I asked my dad to find some documentaries about metal, I was obsessed, in some months I knew a lot of bands, stories and informations, I bought so many CDs, DVDs, vinyls that I still have and love... I also had the big fortune of having YouTube, in the past the research was surely more difficult. When I was 13 I started to listen to Black and Death Metal and then my life changed. I started living and feeling Black Metal especially, and recognized myself in this genre, all the parts of me that felt out of ordinary, out of human "normality", were so well represented, I felt so strong and elevate.
I started going to gigs when I was 14, I saw a lot of big and small events, knew a lot of people with my same interests... At the beginning I was really enthusiastic, now I've seen the not so hedonistic face of the metal scene but I'm still really happy to be here, it's part of me, I can't change it and certainly don't want to do it now and never.
Who are your top three favourite metal bands/artists at the moment, and what makes them stand out to you?
It's really difficult for me to answer this question. I don't think I can choose just 3 favourite bands, but I can surely say that on my hypothetical top 3 Watain would be present. They're one of my favourite artists, they're music is evil, destructive and powerful. I love all of their works and see them live is always a great experience.
Another band I could put on the list is Mayhem, it's not just about music, but more about the sentimental value. They were the first black metal band I've listened to and opened my mind and soul to the genre. Iron Maiden should be in the list too, my first metal band. Also the first big event I've seen was in Milan where they played with Megadeth and other artists. A great show. I felt alive.
I also love Dissection a lot and would like to put them on the list with Death, Mgla, Asphyx, Slayer, Hate Eternal, Inquisition and others... But the question talked about 3 bands, so I've let the emotions that those artists bring to my heart talk.
As a woman in the metal scene, how do you navigate and overcome any challenges or stereotypes you may encounter?
I've been living the scene for 12 years and never had problems with stereotypes. I know there are some guys who think women aren't "trve metalhead" or shit like this but I don't know this people personally and couldn't care less anyway. I always had open minded and not misogynists friends fortunately.
The only thing I can say is that often some guys have tried to flirt with me and not always in a good way, but I've learnt how to put them in their place. This can happen in the metal scene as anywhere else. In fact most of the harassment I received in my life didn't came from metalheads. We all know each other in the scene, so I feel more confident and safe at a gig then on the streets coming back from work for sure.
You’re at a gig do you mosh, stand at the front crushed against the barriers, or stand in the back arms folded nodding along?
I can do all these things, it depends on the gig. At death metal lives I usually mosh, at Black Metal ones I stand at the front against the barriers, but it's not a rule, every situation is different because of the public, the place, and the bands playing.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve done at a gig?
I've done a lot of crazy things especially while I was drunk at some festivals or events...I remember a time when I was at an underground festival in Italy and was carried on a wheelbarrow to the stage where I tried walking like the girl from the exorcist failing and falling down of the stage. After this I went to my tent because it was starting raining and I layed down with my head outside the tent and my mouth opened to drink the rain because I was thirsty and didn't want to drink alcohol anymore but we had just beer and whisky with us.
Are there any up-and-coming female-fronted metal bands or artists you'd like to highlight and recommend?
I like some bands where there are girls playing. I love Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult for example. But talking about up-and-coming bands I unfortunately can recommend just male fronted metal bands, maybe some exception will come to my mind later. Anyway I would like to see a new valid female formation but at the moment the ones I know aren't to my liking
Finish this sentence: “____ is the sexiest metal artist alive!”
Andrea, Chronic Hate's singer, that happens to be my boyfriend too, is the sexiest metal artist alive.
What’s your favourite piece of band merchandise or memorabilia?
At them moment my Watain hoodie and my Possessed long-sleeve.
Are there any metal albums that you consider underrated or overlooked?
There are plenty of metal albums that are underrated, look at how many great bands remain on the underground scene even if they're absolutely kick ass. Even outside the purely underground there are some bands that aren't getting the recognition they deserve, like Cult of Fire or Ahab to mention two bands I like a lot.
At the same time too many albums are overrated like the bands who created them. I'm talking about bands like Dimmu Borgir (an insult to Black Metal), Arch Enemy, Amon Amarth etc...
Is there a weird or interesting fact about yourself you'd like to share?
I love writing, I wrote a lot of books and poems and I hope to publish something one day. I love drawing too as I said before, my favourite technique is pen-and-ink, but I also used to paint with blood some time ago.
How should a fellow metalhead approach you if they want to know more about your metal tastes?
If you're respectful and don't have ulterior motives you just need to say hi and ask, I'm a friendly person. I love talking about music and my passions in general and I'm always happy to find people who share them with me.
Have you got any tattoos or piercings? Any favourite or cool ones you want to share the meaning of?
Piercings are my work, I have a lot of them all done by myself. I also have a lot of tattoos, all black and white and just some of them with a little bit of red. I prefer black-works, but on other people I also like colourful tattoos, just not on my body. I love my side tattoo, it's an illustration of a triton from a book which talked about folklore my mother used to read to me when I was a child. I also love my calf tattoo, a portrait of my sweet mum who left me two years ago.
Life is really hard without her. I also have her name tattooed on my ankle, she had mine too done by me. I love the meaning of my others tattoos too and they're all important to me but these three are my favourites because they talk about the person who gave me everything she had, my dear mum who consoled me even when she was without any forces and was the one who needed support.
What’s your drink of choice?
Beer, especially blanches, and gin tonic.
What’s your favourite band shirt
I love all of my bands t-shirt to be honest, but one of my favourite is my Dissection one.
This or That
Satanism or Paganism?
Atheism
Slayer or Black Sabbath?
Both, too different to choose one
Elf or Orc?
Orc
Corpse paint or leather jackets?
Leather jackets
Blast beats or guitar solos?
Blast beats
Metal festival or intimate underground show?
Both
Bullet belt or spiked wristbands?
Bullet belt
Clean vocals or harsh growls?
Harsh growls
We at the Citadel want to thank Ghita for stepping foot in our darkened Citadel and taking the time to share her thoughts.
