Dead-end Track (on Sonic Cathedral & CD Baby!)

1997:
From a random meeting of three young musicians (Andrea Spinelli, guitar and vocals, Francesco Olmastroni, bass, and Marco Guardabasso, drums) a band is born, almost by chance. A band which will one day develop into Dead-end Track.
1998:
The group rents the classic garage on the edge of Siena and Fabrizio Foni (guitar) is added to their number, who will be important for the future songwriting of the band. Fabrizio brings a defining metal influence to the sound of the band. The first tracks are a strange mix of classic metal and thrash, with an attitude which could almost be described as punk. And so the band starts to play live in mainly cramped venues.. wherever the group finds some space. During these concerts the band realises that they need a more powerful voice: and so Vito Russo is recruited as lead singer. Two months later they record their first demo, THE MAZE, and start playing the nine tracks off the EP in pubs, venues and local or regional competitions.
1999:
Gradually the songwriting begins to lean towards a darker more gothic sound, and even a touch of progressive rock is married with a music not unlike Metallica*s BLACK ALBUM. As soon as five new tracks are ready, the group records them in a new demo, PROUD DROWNING, which receives favourable reviews by music magazines. This is followed by many concerts and competitions.
2000:
After several gigs, Vito leaves the group. The band goes through a difficult period and, without a singer, finds it impossible to play live. Despite this, the groups begins to write new songs and rearrange the old material. After some flyer-advertising, Luisa Quaglia gets in contact with the band and impresses them with her voice. Straight away she joins the line-up, interpreting the new music and giving new life to the existing tracks.
2001:
Whilst working hard on the new stuff, the band realises the need for a demo with their new vocalist, but doesn*t have the resources to make a decent studio recording. So Luisa adds her voice on top of three older tracks from PROUD DROWNING. The material is sent to various labels and competitions: one of which chooses our tracks for a September competition: The Milan HEADBANGING CONTEST organised by Italian Metal Hammer, Hard Staff and Indian*s Saloon. In October the group receives a letter of appreciation from Century Media UK, and finds out that their demo has been forwarded to the central European headquarters in Germany. The product wasn*t convincing enough, however, and so the band decides to throw itself headlong into the new material, and to raise the enough money to record it. In the meantime, some complimentary letters from record companies arrive, but nothing tangible.
2002:
The five-piece, now with a stable formation, decides to cut with the past and calls itself Dead-end Track. In January they disappear for thirteen days to record and mix EX-OTIC: the result is rapidly sent to Leif Jensen from Century Media, who answers ’’ even though the recordings came out really fine (with very moody gothic metalrock and vocals that sometimes remind me on Anneke of The Gathering), Century Media wouldn’t be interested in a co-operation ’’. This because they ’’ already have enough bands signed to the label in a similar style ’’ (goth metal with a female vocalist). So plenty of compliments but nothing more. Tons of demos are sent off to other record labels. In July, EX-OTIC is ’’top demo’’ in Flash magazine. Many enthusiastic noises then arrive from labels who claim to be interested, but in the end nothing concrete emerges.
2003:
The Dead-end Track is contacted by metal producer Frank Andiver (Wonderland, Shadows of Steel, Labyrinth…), with whom, after a few meetings and interviews, an understanding is reached, which allows the group to work long and hard on new material, and to rearrange the older tracks with great care and attention. A series of concerts follows, including the semifinal of EMERGENZA ROCK in the Flog Auditorium, Florence. In the April number of Psycho! magazine, EX-OTIC receives plaudits in the reviews section and gets 8 out of 10 for technical capacity and 7 out of 10 for originality. The song AGAIN appears on the PSYCHOSONIC! COMPILATION VOL. 44. In that same month, Dead-end Track find out (from the pages of italian Metal Hammer, n.4) that they are one of three bands chosen from Italy to take part in YOUNG METAL GODS: a contest from the prestigious Noise Records/Sanctury Music, in collaboration with six European metal magazines.
2004-2005:
Under Frank Andiver*s supervision, between July 2004 and November 2005, the band records and mixes his first album (DEAD-END TRACK), which has nine original tracks and a cover of The Cure*s LOVE SONG, from the historic album DISINTEGRATION (1989). The production is long and tiring, but the results are satisfying. The Dead-end Track sign a contract with Frank Andiver*s Risingworks and with Tabloid musical editions.
2006:
Dead-end Track & their producer Frank Andiver are looking for a good label to publish and promote their 10 tracks album.
2007:
Finally, Dead-end Track find what they were looking for, and in march they sign a contract with Vision Metal Records. This american label will distribute and promote the debut album in the USA and in the UK, also trying to get licensing deals in other countries. A great chance for Dead-end Track: Kenneth Poole, president, owner and engineer behind Vision Metal, signed a three year contract with Universal Records (probably the number one label in the world, at this moment).
"FLASH" REVIEW - OCTOBER 2007
“Compared to most goth-rock-metal bands with female vocals, Dead-end Track have an additional quality: they write beautiful songs. It is not a small thing if you consider that in this way there is no need to supply lack of inspiration either with tons of orchestrations and opera vocalizations or, vice versa, with mega-productions and anachronistic nu-metal guitars. This is not in any way meant to debase musicians’ technical skills as well as the importance of Luisa Quaglia’s limpid and steady voice for the success of the whole work, but the most salient feature is excellent melodies such as FOR SALE, an enthralling and intense song despite some questionable synth patches. With this regard, Frank Andiver’s production is good for sound clearness and sensitivity to small details, no less than big pop productions. However, this partially affects the guitars’ power. Also because the musicians show to deserve the stage in passages such as the FETISH-FUN-HOUSE’s ending, a good progressive experiment. Again, the group moves through song’s shape with such a confidence that can be rarely found in a debut album, as highlighted by 911’s rockin’ bridge-chorus, BITES and ARTIFICIAL’s refrains and the final stirring ballad (ORCHID), in which the voice soars and pierces. The only missed chance for the right chorus maybe is SELF-AUTOPSY, even though it is well compensated by the excellent Sun to Fall (potential single) and – why not? – the surprising remake of The Cure’s LOVE SONG. Especially this successful cover shows the strong band’s personality, which impudently dares to fasten and metalize Robert Smith’s untouchable work, without any regret for the original one. My advice is to move around the usual short-sightedness of our discography and try to get this remarkable debut album.”