| Alias: | Peso |
| Birth Place: | Italy |
| Instrument: | Drums |
| Genre: | Heavy metal, thrash metal, hard rock |
| Occupation: | Musician, composer |
| Years Active: | 1984–present |
| Associated Acts: | Necrodeath, Pier Gonella |
Marco Pesenti (born 20 January 1965), also known as Peso, is an Italian drummer, composer, and teacher, and founding member of the black metal band Necrodeath.
Peso started playing the drums at the age of 14 just for fun and entirely self-taught. He had no aspirations, as his main passion at the time was soccer. However, at the age of 16, he made his live debut as a drummer in the school's auditorium. The adrenaline of the concert combined with his successful performance ignited a serious desire in him to continue .[1] In 1983, he formed a rock metal cover band called Leech together with his friend Claudio (who would later co-found Necrodeath) as a guitarist. The strong musical connection between the two led them to establish Ghostrider the following year, and they recorded a demo tape titled "Mayhemic Destruction".[2]
In 1985, again with guitarist Claudio, Peso founded Necrodeath, recording their first demo tape, "The Shining Pentagram".[3]
In 1986 the label Nightmare Productions offered them a deal, and in January 1987, their debut album Into the Macabre[4] was released. The album gained significant visibility acclaimed by metal press and fanzines and allowed Necrodeath to have a cult following that is still present to this day. In 2004, Phil Anselmo (Pantera) said: "I have a record player at home, and I have like Necrodeath and Darkness on vinyl. Necrodeath was black metal in 1987, before a lot of bands."[5] In 1988, the band released the second album Fragments of Insanity.[6] The band disbanded in January 1990.
Ten years later Claudio reconnected with Peso, and as a result, Necrodeath reformed, recruiting Flegias as the vocalist, who had previously been the drummer for Cadaveria, and John on bass. The band secured a record deal with Scarlet Records, which reissued Into the Macabre on CD and vinyl, and organized the recording of a new album at Underground Studios in Västerås, Sweden. The album was released in 1999 with the title Mater of All Evil,[7] and the band embarked on a series of concerts in Italy and Europe, including appearances at events like Gods of Metal in 2000 (with Slayer and Iron Maiden as headliner) and the No Mercy Festival at Palacquatica in Milan.
By the end of 2001, Peso returned to Sweden with Necrodeath to record the album Black as Pitch. In 2003, the band recorded their fifth album, Ton(e)s of Hate in Rome at Giuseppe Orlando's Outersound studios.
Then the band released the compilation 20 Years of Noise 1985–2005,[8] and in 2005, an album of unreleased tracks, 100% Hell, entirely composed by Peso, including a guest appearance by Venom frontman Conrad "Cronos" Lant.[9]
In May 2006 Necrodeath started a European tour supporting Marduk,[10] and in 2007, the band released the concept album Draculea, dedicated to Count Vlad Ţepeş. In May 2008, Necrodeath released a new album titled Phylogenesis, a concept album about human genesis, also under the Scarlet Records label.
In 2011 Peso compose an entire concept album consisting of a single forty-minute track titled "Idiosyncrasy".[11]
In 2014, Necrodeath released The 7 Deadly Sins, a concept album dedicated to the seven deadly sins.[12]
In 2015, the band released the EP Headhunting, featuring guest appearances by Jeffrey "Mantas" Dunn, the founding guitarist of Venom, and Tony Dolan (Venom Inc., M-Pire of Evil).[13]
In addition to his music projects, Peso has always been dedicated to teaching, developing his own program for both drum courses and percussion and music fundamentals courses for the youngest students.[14]
Starting from 2011, Peso collaborates regularly with Pier Gonella school MusicArt.[15]
In 2012, Peso started the reinterpretation of the historic Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of the Moon in a more rock-metal version, renaming it The Black Side of The Moon. The album was released by Black Tears Records in 2012.[16]
In 1994, Angel Death band invited Peso to record the drums for their single "Gore," which was released under Terror From Hell Records.[17]
In 2003, Peso, along with the singer Zanna (a former bandmate in Sadist) and guitarist Paco, formed the new band "Raza do odio" and released the album La nueva alarma under Scarlet Records.[18]
In 2010, Peso reformed the Ghostrider band and released the album The Return of the Ghost under the F.O.A.D Records label.[19]
From August 2014, Peso collaborates with the magazine Metal Hammer Italy, writing the article "Learn to play" where he teach techniques, licks, advices regarding electric guitar.[20]
In 2015, he collaborate with Pier Gonella's band, Odyssea Project, recording the drums for the song "Tears of the Rain".[21]
In 2017, he released the solo album Didgeridrum Project, a collaboration with Alberto Pedevilla, in which he played drums and various percussion instruments, preceded by the single "Sacromonte".[22]
In 2019, Peso joined Pier Gonella's solo project,[23] with whom he released the album Strategy in 2020 and 667 in 2023.[24]
In 2020, he was contacted by author Massimo Villa to create an official biography of Necrodeath. The book was published in November 2021 with the title The Shining Book by Arcana edizioni.[25]
In 2021, Peso recorded for the Italian project Julia and The Roofers the album The Will of Evil,[26] followed by the EP Killed by Fate in 2022.