Madina lake

Group Creation and Disappearance Of Adalia

Before the advent of Madina Lake, the band members performed in two different groups - The Blank Theory (the twins Leoni, later Mateo Camargo joined the band as a guitarist) and Reforma (Dan and Mateo). Groups often gave concerts together, and therefore soon became friends. But by the summer of 2004, both groups had disintegrated. In the summer of 2004, the four met for the first time in a cafe and decided to try to create a completely new group. It is based on the story of Madina Lake, isolated from the outside world, invented by Matt, which in its essence is a reflection of the popular culture of the United States.

In 2005, Nathan and Matt take part in a special edition of the show Fear Factor . After losing only in one contest, the twins win $ 45,000. This money goes to the treatment of twins from infection, obtained during participation in the show and to record their debut EP. The mini-album, called The Disappearence Of Adalia , will be released on August 22, 2006. Then the band goes with the then little-known Paramore band on a UK tour.

From Them, Through Us, To You

The band signs a deal with Roadrunner Records and, together with producer Mark Trombino, starts recording their debut album From Them, Through Us, To You . The album is released March 27, 2007. The album debuts at 154 positions on the Billboard 200 album charts and at 60 positions in the UK album charts and receives generally positive reviews from both the press and fans.

After the release of the album, the band takes part in the Projekt Revolution tour at the personal invitation of Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park and receives the award “Best International Newcomer” from Kerrang magazine ! , beating in this nomination 30 Seconds To Mars .

In 2007-2008, the group also took part in the festival The Bamboozle , Summer Sonic Festival 2007 in Japan , Download Festival , Warped Tour 2008 and gives a completely sold out tour of Europe.

Also during this period, the band recorded two covers for Kerrang! Compilations: for the song of their idols The Smashing Pumpkins Today for the Higher Voltage compilation !: Another Brief History of Rock and for the song Iron Maiden for Maiden Heaven: A Tribute to Iron Maiden .

Attics To Eden and Arlene Ball Tour

In 2008, the group suspends their concert activities and sits down to write the second album - Attics To Eden , which continues the conceptual history of the city of Madina Lake. Roadrunner Records, wishing to take advantage of the popularity of emo groups, in place of the producer put David Bendet , who made the album Riot! band Paramore one of the most remarkable emo albums. When the main part of the album was ready, the managers of Roadrunner Records complained that the band had moved away from the emo style and hit the alternative . The compromise resolution of this situation is the recording of the single Never Take Us Alive, more like the songs of the band My Chemical Romance , than other songs from the album. The album is released on May 5, 2009 and receives mixed reviews.

In support of the album, the band goes to Canada to warm up Anberlin and tour Europe with Papa Roach . The group also takes part in the 2009 Vans Warped Tour , Soundwave festival 2009 . In 2010, the band gives its most extensive UK tour - Arlene Ball.

Avoiding Roadrunner and Dresden Codex

After the Arlene Ball tour, the band is left without a label and starts raising funds for a new EP through the Pledge Music service, selling signed copies of the album, tools and equipment from the tours, etc. ^{[3] [4]}

On June 30, Matthew Leoni is hospitalized with a serious head injury after trying to stop a man who has beaten his own wife. All further funds received on Pledge Music accounts are used to pay hospital bills. The Smasing Pumpkins give a concert to raise funds for Matt’s treatment (at the same concert the Illinois Governor presents Nathan with a letter and announces Matthew Leoni on June 26), and the remaining members of Madina Lake go on a tour of the UK. On August 2, Matt suffers the last operation and begins recovery. Justin Pivets, responsible for the assault on his wife and bass player, was found innocent by the court ^{[5] [6]} .

Dresden Codex is coming out on December 10th, 2010.

On April 23, 2011, the band gave their first full performance, after Matt Leoni recovered. From the stage for the first time performed a new song Hey Superstar ^[7] .

World War III and the end of the trilogy

Madina Lake takes part in the 2011 Vans Warped Tour and signs a contract with Sony Music . September 13, 2011 the third and last album of the group, called World War III , was released, recorded in parallel with the Dresden Codex . World War III is the band's first album, recorded without third-party producers, with the exception of Billy Corgan , who had a hand in writing the first single, Imagineer.

After a tour in support of the album, guitarist Mateo Camargo leaves the band. During performances in the winter - summer of 2012, he is replaced by group manager Bob Beeknel.

In the summer of 2012, the band announces a tour completing the entire conceptual trilogy. Shortly before the start of the tour, the final edition of the book Lila, The Divine Game - a manuscript written by Matthew Leoni, putting everything over i in the world of Madina Lake. Lila, The Divine Game Tour runs from late October to November. Mateo Camargo returns to the group during the tour. During the tour, the album From Them, Through Us, To You is played entirely for the first time, and during the release of an encore, the most remarkable songs from other albums are performed.

Farewell Tour and group disbanding

In 2012—2013, the group was offered a contract to create a film. The first version of the script was written by Nathan and Matt Leoni. It is known that the film will show the events that happened to the group in 2008–2010 and will end with Matt returning to the scene after the injury, as well as in the film there will be some references to the conceptual trilogy ^[8] .

In the spring of 2013, the group decides to hold a farewell tour and disband. The main reason for breaking up is the completion of the conceptual trilogy. Initially, as part of the tour, it was planned to visit all the remarkable countries for Madina Lake - the UK , the USA , Japan and Australia , but for the sake of some circumstances, it was decided to limit the UK tour. Before the tour, the band began recording a farewell EP under the working title Buena Fortuna, Nathan Leoni wrote an autobiography ^[9] .

The last show of the group was played in London on October 23, 2013. After the tour ended, the participants took a short break and then returned to the studio to complete the farewell EP. Also in the plans of the group, in connection with the forced postponement of the exit farewell EP, the idea to play a few shows in Japan in support of the album.

The style of the first album of the group is characterized by many critics as pop-punk and emo (mostly due to the appearance of the band members). The album is characterized by metal riffs , while solo parts are practically absent or replaced by keyboard losses, aggressive, emotional, almost singing vocals in some places and instant transitions from energetic to lyrical sound. The single House Of Cards is often referred to as alternative rock , mostly for using the tapping technique of playing the guitar as the leading motive, while the main rhythm part is given to the bass . The song Morning Sadness demonstrates the multi-layered sound, due to the use of several guitars (including acoustic , guitar with clear sound and distortion ), several types of keyboard instruments , slower rhythm than in other compositions, and powerful bass that merges with the drums the party, because of its complexity, the song was first performed at concerts only in 2013. River People demonstrates the key role of keyboards and drums, as well as heavier bass than in the whole album. The final song True Love is performed in the best traditions of hardcore , where the melodious and quiet couplet, sung in a whisper, is replaced by a heavy and aggressive chorus with a heavy vocal, and by the end is interrupted by a fragment without music. ^[ten]

The Attics To Eden style is very different from the style of the first album. With the exception of the single Never Take Us Alive, written at the request of Roadrunner Records, that the album had at least one emo composition, most of the compositions were performed in an experimental style. The lead role in the album is given to drums and bass , which is clearly audible in songs such as Legends, Never Walk Alone, Welcome To Oblivion. Let's Get Out Here and Not For This World are more descendants of the House Of Cards song, and Criminals is more like the much resounding, periodically changing mood of the Adalia sound. In general, the second album is usually described as alternative rock and post-hardcore .

For the first time, the group worked on the World War III album without a producer and could afford to change the sound to suit their own tastes. Therefore, the third album was the most diverse in terms of genre content. Howdy Neighboor! and Imagineer are aggressively sounding, progressive and metallic sounding compositions. Across 5 Oceans, Heroine, Fireworks and Take Me Or Leave, on the other hand, borrow sound from pop and electronic music. Hey Superstar and What It Is To Wonder are more like the rest of the band’s previous work. As an experiment, the group, on the initiative of Dan Torelli, decided to bring the sound of the drums closer to their live sound, exposing them to a lesser “purge” , in addition to this, Dan had the opportunity to use all his percussion instruments. ^[eleven]

According to Nathan and Matt, the groups The Smashing Pumpkins and Nine Inch Nails had the greatest influence on them. Among their favorite bands, they also often call Muse and Rage Against The Machine . Mateo and Dan generally shared the tastes of the twins in the early stages (although they both tended more towards pop-punk ), but closer to 2011, Mateo's tastes began to lean closer to pop music and electronics.

Most of the songs are about events taking place in the fictional city of Madina Lake. But the plot of the main events can be traced only through the emotions of a lyrical hero, whose place is alternately taken by the characters of the conceptual trilogy or Nathan Leoni himself. The most common theme is a broken heart, in one form or another it pops up in the songs Here I Stand, One Last Kiss, In Another Life, Stars Me Vs. The World, True Love, We'll Be Okay, Escape From Here, Again, Again, Silent Voices Kill, Across 5 Ocean and Blood Red Flags. Topics of fame and self-realization are covered in Adalia, Stars, Heroine, Howdy Neighbor! and Hey Superstar, the theme of lies in House Of Cards, treason in Pandora (through the image of the trilogy of the same character). Never Take Us Alive, Not For This World, Here I Stand and Imagineer are hymns to dreams that may sometimes seem unattainable, and ideas that can be misunderstood. River People and Criminals are devoted to the same name groups from the city of Madina Lake, personifying good and evil, respectively. The songs of Morning Sadness and Friends & Lovers are dedicated to the dead mother of twins. Howdy Neighbor !, We Got These and The Great Divide are dedicated to the incident that happened to Matt in the summer of 2010, the first is Nathan's fierce appeal to people who almost killed his brother and has a deep psychological and social overtones, the second describes the feelings that the vocalist had to experience after the news of what happened, and the third tells of the fear of being alone .

• Pandora is the first song written by the band.
• Now Or Never contains the lines from the last song of The Blank Theory - Perfect
• Escape From Here was originally a demo song for another project Mateo Camargo (most likely Reforma ).
• The song Morning Sadness appeared from a song by Reforma called When They Find Us. For Madina Lake, the words were changed, due to which she has a more personal character for the twins, since she is dedicated to their dead mother. For the first time from the stage the song was performed only in 2012, as it was not originally planned for live performance due to its complexity. But during the announcement of Lila, The Divine Game, the group promised to perform the album entirely, and therefore Morning Sadness should have appeared in the set list.
• While the album From Them, Through Us, To You was completely performed from the stage (with the exception of the bonus track for Japan Again And Again), never performed from the stage Criminals, Friends & Lovers, Through The Pain, Silent Voices Kill, as well as bonus tracks from Attics To Eden (with the exception of the instrumental version of Scorched Earth), and from the album World War III only Howdy Neighbor !, Imagineer, Hey Superstar and They're Coming For Me were played, possibly in Japan it also performed Blood Red Flags .
• The modified words from the third verse of Friends & Lovers are heard in the song Every Little Thing from the collection Have A Crappy Summer.
• The group participated three years in a row at the Soundwave festival, two years in a row at the Summer Sonic, in all the Warped Tours from 2008 to 2011.
• During the tours, the group changed its composition only three times. The first time it happened in the summer and autumn of 2010, when Matt could not speak because of the injury. Then the bass part was replaced with a phonogram. During a performance on Soundwave in 2011 and some summer concerts, band manager Bob Biknel played the guitar instead of Mateo Camargo, who took a break. The last composition change happened during the farewell tour: Dan Torelli, due to his wife’s pregnancy, could not take part in the tour and was replaced by the drummer of the band with warm-up - Chris Mason from the Super Happy Fun Club .
• They're Coming For Me was originally written for the unknown production project Mateo Camargo. Nathan, having heard the music, quickly wrote the words and the song first became a single from Dresden Codex , and then from World War III .

Permanent composition

• Nathan Leoni - vocals , lyricist
• Matthew Leoni - bass guitar , background vocals , by Lila, The Divine Game
• Mateo Camargo - guitar , backing vocals, keyboards , composer (2004—2012, from September 2012 - tour participant).
• Dan Torelli - drums , background vocals.

Session musicians

• Bob Biknel - guitar (2012), manager
• Chris Mason ( Super Happy Fun Club ) - drums (Farewell Tour)

Albums

From Them, Through Us, to You (2007)

Singles:

• House of cards
• Here i stand
• One last kiss
• Adalia (without clip)
• Pandora (clip only, UK)

Attics to Eden (2009)

Singles:

• Never Take Us Alive
• Welcome to oblivion
• Let's get out here

World War III (2011)

Singles:

• Imagineer
• Hey superstar
• Across 5 Oceans
• They're Coming For Me (single from EP Dreden Codex with belated clip)

EP

• The Disappearance of Adalia (2006)
• The Dresden Codex (2010)
• Bueno Fortuna (TBA, 2014)

• Official site (eng.)