Limbo

There are many bands called Limbo: Limbo (1) topping the charts is an italian gothic electronic/crossover act. (2) is a Raleigh ska/metal band. (3) is a czech free jazz group. (4) is a psychedelic band from port huron michigan, (5) is an avant-garde band from istanbul, Turkey.

Limbo (5) - Utku Tavil // drums / cymbals / laptop / sounds, Giray Gürkal // guitars / fx / objects / sounds...
Their first album will be released from rekonstruKt this month.

Limbo (1) Formed in 1984 as the brainchild of Tuscan artist Gianluca Becuzzi (vocals, synthesisers, programming and songwriting) and the two fellow art students Bruno Farese (synthesisers) and Carlo Mallegni (bass synthesiser).

Their first demo tape "Limbo" gained the attention of the Italian music press and local promoters. Soon Limbo began to perform live in Tuscany, also appearing on the underground tape-compilation "Still Life" on Roman label Komakino.

The word about Limbo spread, resulting in a contract for a mini-LP on label Spittle Records of Florence. After Enio Benassi taking the place of Carlo Mallegni, the three recorded the mini-LP "Poisoned Kisses In Limbo" in November 1985 (released in February 1986).
After that Limbo embarked on the tour performing live all over Italy. Both the success of the record and the tour led to Spittle proposing a contract for a full-length album.
They had another change of line-up with Giovanni Fiaschi replacing Bruno Farese in 1986. Due to Spittle's failure the album was never released though and the master tapes were except for one track appearing on the "Independent Music Meeting 88" compilation LP. After these troubles Limbo lost Benassi and Fiaschi. Becuzzi decided to continue as a duo with new member Vincenzo Mustone.

The two composed and recorded new tracks during the first half of 1989 which constituted Limbo's actual debut album, named "My Whip, Your Flesh" and released in October of the same year on Mantra Records followed by an Italian tour. The album was featured in 1990 horror movie "Notte Profonda" ("Deep Night") by Milanese director Fabio Salerno. It became a cult film after the suicidal death of Salerno three years later.

Limbo's line-up expanding to a four-piece with Giovanni Fiaschi coming back and Silvio Pucci joining in 1991. Returning to studio they produced "Our mary of Cancer" incorporating guest vocalists like Alex Spalck of Pankow and Elena Margarolo of Brazil. The album was released by Helter Skelter in a limited edition of 666 copies on blood-red vinyl which sold out in few months.

The third album, entitled "Vox Insana", was released in spring 1992 on new label Dune Records. Helter Skelter anticipated the release with the unauthorised re-release of the two previous works on a CD. This CD is known as the "Black Album".

Their fourth album "Evirazione Totemica Seriale" released by Florence label Abraxas in 1993. Not satisfied with the production work Limbo decided to stop working with external producers. Recording a new demo sent to various labels a contract was offered by Angelo Bergamini (Kirlian Camera and Ludwig II records) for an album and a single.
The demo tracks were re-arranged, virtually stripping them from all guitar and bass parts annoying Silvio Pucci and Giovanni Fiaschi (playing bass, guitars and violins). Also Fiaschi's relocation 300km from their hometown weakened the band. The remaining trio still succeeded in finishing the recordings of the new album "Zos Kia Kaos" and the EP "Siliciolatria" in the summer 1994. Licensed the German label/distro Discordia it was finally released in spring 1995. Both Pucci and Fiaschi left soon after leavin Gianluca Becuzzi as sole member.

Performing with the aid of backing tapes and visuals Becuzzi performed by himself as Limbo for several shows in the following months (including Germany and Switzerland). He also supported Kirlian Camera on tour through Germany and Austria.

Limbo's sixth album "Sein Und Zeit" was then released through Discordia in May 1996, following the release of "Plays Discordia" album by Metaform (a plagiarist side-project of Becuzzi). Becuzzi also replaced the singer of italian industrial crossover band Pankow for their homonymous "Pankow" album at this time.
After Discordia's bankruptcy, "Hell's Gate Visions (1986/1996): A Total Revision" remix album, was released in October 1997 on follow-up label Triton.

After an Italian mini-tour in May 1998 with live support of D.Loop from the Italian EBM project Kebabträume, the seventh album "L'Être Et Le Néant", was released by Solar Plexus.

Conceived and recorded in the same sessions a cover album (part 1 of Limbos's "Millenium Trax" trilogy) was finished and in January 1999 the album "Continuum: The Fire Front" saw its release on Energeia.
Exactly one year later part 2 of the trilogy "Cospiratorium: The Ice Line" was released. The album included collaborations with Sigillum S, IT, Atrax Morgue, Kebabträume and others. Becuzzi's current project Kinetix was also introduced at this time.

The third part was to capture live versions of Limbo's most important tracks from the Wave Gotik Treffen 2000 in Germany, but for lacking quality of the recordings a final tour was organised by in March 2001, with three concerts covering the north, centre and south of Italy. The line-up consisted of Gianluca Becuzzi (vocals), D.Loop (backing vocals and keyboards) and the sound engineer Paolo Cillerai (stage mixing and effects).
The band recorded enough material for a live album and a live DVD but Energeia postponed and later shut down. Becuzzi saw it fit to quit with Limbo as he was already working intensely on material for Kinetix (by now his main project) and moving further into experimental territories.

Wanting to finish the trilogy the duo Becuzzi/Loop signed a contract for the last part of the trilogy with the Genovese label Cursed Land Entertainment who asked them for a kind of "best of" release. "Compendium: The Light Fall" was finally released in April 2004 as a posthumous album after radically changing from a live album to a compilation of remastered, remixed and brand new tracks.



Limbo (2) is a sick band that hails from Raleigh, NC.
The first incarnation Limbo was a sort of crack rock steady sound, with the ska/punk/metal sound. After much "secretive promotion" by the Kris Hilbert, one of the bands guitarists, the band finally posted their songs for the public to listen to. They played a number of shows, and then went completely AWOL.

After much time, Limbo came back. The new style was much more ambient, much much less ska, much much less punk, and much more metal. With a cello. And three guitarists*? I believe that's right. The sound could be compared to other local bands such as The Looming Tower, Requiem, and other bands from around like Kylesa and Baroness and Descolada. But soon, things went awry, and the band members went their separate ways.

The band members includes Kris (Guitar), Lukas (Guitar) Max, (Guitar), Wes (Cello), Adam (Drum) and Ben (Bass).


Limbo (3) - Founded as a trio in 2004 the music band LIMBO consisted of: Pavel Hrubý – tenor saxophone, bass clarinet; Taras Vološčuk – double-bass; Miloš Dvořáček – percussion, percussion instruments. The trumpet player František Kučera joined the group in 2005 and thus the group reached its current composition. The music we play arises in the same moment right on stage. It draws from the long-term musical experience and the outstanding creativity of the individual personalities. As the level of style and genre is concerned, it is very varied and it cannot be „put in a box“ in the good sense of the term. The band appears on stages all over the Czech Republic.
In 2008 Miloš Dvořáček quit with this band and today he play with -123 minut.

Present personel:

Pavel Hrubý (1970) – tenor saxophone, bass clarinet
Studied clarinet play at the conservatoire in Plzeň between years 1985 – 1991. In the 90’s he went through several different formations and across various styles. From year 1998 to 2003 he was a permanent member of the Jan Matoušek’s Prague Swing Orchestra. During this period the orchestra would travel all over Europe and record 3 CDs. He is an active member of the Big Band www.bend.cz (the art director being Kryštof Marek). In September 2005 the Big Band would record a CD with the world first-class saxophone player Tony Lakatos. Further on he is an active member of the band Nuo (the leader being Jakub Zitko) and the Jazz Quintet Plzeň. Currently he is also a member of the Amit Chatterjee Group together with the tabla and didgeridoo player Tomáš Reindl, bass-guitar player Jakub Vejnar and the world-known Indian guitar player and singer Amit Chatterjee (who has been a permanent member of the Joe Zawinul Syndicate for 10 years).

František Kučera (1958) – trumpet
Studied the trumpet play at the Conservatoire of Plzeň Since 1981 he has been the leader of a quintet called P.Jazz combo, later called Jazz Can Dance and Adam's apple. He was a founding member of the Kontraband Milana Svobody, where he would be active until 2000. He would cooperate with Iva Bittová in the framework of the Čikori Music Band. He would appear on tour with a number of bands and musicians (Vltava, Elena Suchánková, Fru Fru, and others). He has been a long-standing member of the comic opera and musical orchestra of the Municipal Theatre in Plzeň and also a member of the Jazz Quintet Plzeň. He is as well active as a pedagogue.

Taras Vološčuk (1972) - double-bass
He come from Ukraine. He has been active in the Czech Republic for 10 years and during this time he became one of the most sought after jazz double-bass players on the Prague jazz scene. Currently he is a stable member of the Yvonne Sanchez, Rene Trossman Band

Martin Kopriva – drums
ranks among the most respected young Czech drummers today. He was born in Prague in 1979. He graduated from the Jazz Studies department of the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory’s post-secondary program. He has been a member of many bands, including the Vítkov Quartet and Veteráni studené války. He is currently playing in bands such as Lanugo , Med , Jan Kořínek And Groove , T4 , and many others. Martin is valued mainly for his original work with unusual percussive objects.

Daniel Šoltis - drums
He is the youngest member of the group. His explosive yet tasteful skills make him one of the most in demand drummers on the Czech scene. He is equally at home at a jazz date with such as Najponk, Karel Ruzicka, Radek Zapadlo,Beata Hlavenkova or Stepan Markovic Saxtet, at a rock date with singer Lenka Dusilova,-123 minut, Lukas Martinek or playing free with Mark O'Leary.He has performed with Ingrid Jensen,Rich Perry. He is also member of vertigo quintet.