Merendine Atomiche is an Italian band with a somewhat
peculiar history. They formed in 1995 but it wasn't until the year 1998 that
they released their first demo. The following year they recorded a tribute
album in honour of Metallica and toured for a year in the north of Italy as an
official Metallica tribute band. In the year 2000 they released an MCD called
"The Holy Metal" which sold more than 3500 copies and was followed by 13
months of Italian touring as they did more than 100 live shows. They then
signed a deal with the French label Deadsun Records. "Walk Across Fire" is
their first full-length album which they recorded last year at the Sunlight
Studios together with veteran producer Tomas Skogsberg, a studio that is
famous for its characteristic dirty rock 'n' roll sound, something that does
not shine through as much as usual on this disc. While most of the Sunlight
artists are either Hellacopter rock bands or death metal bands, Merendine
Atomiche play a mix of classic thrash metal, stoner rock and 80's hardrock.
If you like the heavy groove of stoner rock but prefer to have it a bit faster
and thrashier then this is the band for you. These Italians do their thing
very well and have found a sound of their own which is a very important
quality for a band today. The vocals are somewhat stoner like but vary a
little towards more aggressive death / thrash vocals at times. The thrash
riffs get a little old when you approach the end but "Walk Across Fire" is
nonetheless a solid debut album from these Italian guys. This isn't exactly
the type of music you are used to hearing from that country. Notable guest
appearances were done by Jeff Waters of Annihilator (solo on "Game Over")
and Anders Lundemark of Konkhra (vocals on "Revenge"). For those who
appreciate visual expression there is also a cd-rom video included of the
opening track. This is something that you could appreciate whether you like
Cathedral, Annihilator, Spiritual Beggars or newer Megadeth. At the end of the
album there is a section that sounds very much like Rage Against The Machine
as well. Stand-out tracks: "Walk Across Fire", "The Cheat of The
Cross".
written by Vincent Eldefors
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Tracklist
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1. Blood For |
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Glory
2. Walk Across Fire
3. Game Over
4. The Cheat of |
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The Cross
5. Total Darkness
6. Revenge
7. The Spirit Of |
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Wolf
8. Victory Over The Enemies
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Playing time: 42.46
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Buy other Merendine Atomiche albums
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