Cesare Bonizzi, aka Fratello Metallo, has died at the age of 78. The confirmation comes from Cesare “Red” Zanotti, former member of the friar's band.
Bonizzi was born in Offannengo (province of Cremona) in 1946, and then entered the convent at the age of 29, in 1975, in the Order of Capuchin Friars Minor. In the 1980s, while providing spiritual assistance to the tram drivers of the ATM in Milan, he discovered his passion for music, starting to compose songs for his clients.
Starting in the 1990s, Bonizzi began to systematically use music as a vehicle for prayer and the diffusion of the Christian faith. In 1990, after attending a Metallica concert, he approached metal music, which soon became his genre of choice, which he used to accompany his Christian message. Hence the stage name Fratello Metallo, with which he also took the stage at the Gods of Metal.
His output, which has spanned genres, consists of 16 studio albums, including Mysteries. Interviewed by Evening courierin 2023 he defined himself as a preacher and explained why at a certain point he no longer wanted to do metal and distanced himself from his character. «The album was about to be released Metal. I wanted my photo to be in the background compared to the writing “Brother is Metal”. A metaphorical choice: heavy metal is the means, the end is to say that life is extraordinary using less common registers. I mean, I wasn't the character! Instead they show me the cover and my face is there, huge.”
And again: «They made me become a freak. A friend who is passionate about sacred images one day sent me a painting found in Brianza: my image had been used to make a Saint Anthony of Porcello. It was a combination of things, around the same time. We had to give it a rest.”
