Band:	Scala Mercalli
Album:	12th Level
Style:	Heavy metal, Power metal
Release date:	2005
A review by:	Thryce

01. Scream Of Revenge
02. My Daemons
03. Banshee's Whisper
04. Dissolved In Time
05. Bloody Night
06. Day Of Fighter
07. Queen Of Dragons
08. The New Kingdom
09. The Sign
10. 12th Level

Heavy metal
Recorded: Potemkin Studio, Italy 2005
Label: SG Records (originally released in 2005 by AB Records)
Total Running Time: 56:48


The Mercalli scale is a scale used for measuring the intensity of an earthquake. Unfortunately there's nothing earth-shattering about this release. In fact the music hardly reaches the intensity of a moth farting.

It started out pretty good though. The very first moments it looked like this five-piece was keen to set out their stall as a Traditional Heavy metal band. But then... then the vocalist starts squealing like a seagull. And that's when it started to sound awfully familiar; this was the same guy (I'm almost sure it's a guy) as in my Ibridoma review.

Wandering the metal underground since 1992, it is only November 2005 when Scala Mercalli releases its debut full-length 12th Level to far less fanfare than the band had imagined. From what I read on the internet, the album wasn't really received with open arms by press and audience, but I think I found out why. And it doesn't take Sherlock fucking Holmes to crack the case either. Smooth arrangements are nonexistent, songwriting is unimaginably terrible and not entirely cheese-free, and the vocals mostly sour the enjoyability of the record anyway. Yet, for reasons unknown to yours truly, SG Records decided to re-issue this yawn-inducing affair at the end of 2009.

As an old saying goes, there's no school like the old school. But this heavy metal D student sure skipped a lot of classes. Whatever, there's no room for school dropouts. Class dismissed, this album is of no particular relevance.


PS: The band's MySpace player only contains songs of their new album Border Wild, which sounds notably better than this unconvincing abomination. A remarkable improvement! So go get that one instead.