Sad news today, as it’s been revealed that Luciano Gaglio, head of indie metal record label I, Voidhanger Records, is in intensive care in a battle with COVID-19.
The news was broken by Gabriele Gramaglia, sole member of Italian death metallers Cosmic Putrefaction, who wrote the following on the band’s Facebook:
“Luciano, the leader of the label, asked me to give you all this communication that I do with heavy heart and the utmost concern. Unfortunately Luciano is now hospitalized in sub-intensive care unit and he is not fine at all.
“I was incredibly shocked when I received this news from him and my hands right now are trembling. That is the major reason for delays in communication with him that may have occur to anyone, me included, the past few weeks, and that is the worst I could ever have thought of.
“Right now all we can do is to gather around him with our hearts and just hope and wish him nothing but the best. I’ll try to be in touch with him as much as possible and I will keep you posted as soon as possible about his conditions.”
While I, Voidhanger might not be a huge name for casual metal fans, underground devotees know the label well for their releases by extreme acts like Spectral Lore, Sermon of Flames, Howls of Ebb, Voidcraft, Mare Cognitum, and Weeping Sores. The label is a true work of passion by Luciano, who sees it as a chance to give unique voices in metal a space to express themselves.
“I want to give voice to those underground artists that have really something to tell and with a vision so original or unique that risk to get unnoticed in a metal scene dominated by trends and generic sounds,” Gaglio told Nine Circles in 2016. “It’s for that reason that I, Voidhanger Records has grown a peculiar reputation: that of a label which deals with what’s weird or not obvious within the metal field… a very nice compliment, if you ask.”
Everyone at The Pit sends their heart out to Luciano, and hopes he makes a speedy recovery. If you want to help, please go buy some I, Voidhanger releases via their webstore.
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Words by Chris Krovatin