ATOMIC SYMPHONY

Atomic Symphony biography
ATOMIC SYMPHONY is a progressive metal band from Zurich, Switzerland formed as a six-piece in 2009 by Marc FRIEDRICH (drums), Nikola RAKIC (bass), Mario MAUZ (guitar), Luca WIDMER (rhythm guitar), Roman SATTLER (keyboards) and Lena SCHMIDLI (vocals). In the early stages the band's influences tended towards symphonic rather than progressive metal, and its development was hampered by several line-up changes, with Luca WIDMER, Roman SATTLER and Lena SCHMIDLI all departing in 2011 - the latter two being replaced by Carlo BELTRAME on keyboards and Jasmin BAGGENSTOS on vocals, thus reducing the band to a five-piece.

Guitarist Mario MAUZ also left the band in 2013, and was replaced about a year later by Roberto BARLOCCI, with bassist Nikola RAKIC following him in 2015 to be replaced by Thomas SPOEGLER. Both bassists were involved with the recording of the band's debut album 'Redemption', which was finally released in September of that year.

This line-up has since remained stable, and by 2022 the band had recorded enough songs to enable them to release two more albums. Originally they wanted to release all the songs on one album, but that would have led to a running time of almost 80 minutes, and in the end they decided to split the songs into two albums with a common theme linking them. The first of these albums was 'Hybris' in 2022, followed by the release of 'Nemesis' in 2023 as a continuation of the story that began on 'Hybris'. The cover artwork of the two albums also underlines the connection between them, and helps them to work together as a unit despite the different release dates.

In the seven years between the recording of the debut album 'Redemption' and the release of 'Hybris', the band members' listening habits changed somewhat, and as a result so did their style of playing. Both the latter two albums were produced by the highly experienced guitarist Tommy VETTERLI, something which has also had a positive effect on the band's sound - this already having moved significantly closer to progressive rather than symphonic metal.

Sadly, with the release of Nemesis in July 2023, the band decided to call it a day, and as of October 2023 are said to be on indefinite hiatus.

(biography provided by David/yam yam)