Meridian 1995 Sundown Empire

First and only album released by australian Goth Rock band Meridian in 1995 first under german indipendent label Nyctalopia Records and later under Heartland Records. Tracklist: 00:00 Descent Into Solitude 01:32 Dreams Unveiled 04:57 The Call 09:08 This Masquerade 13:20 Hiding 16:34 Surreal Embrace 20:28 Athanasia 23:49 Revelations In Black 27:43 Wail And Weep 31:21 Messiah 35:37 Children Of Eden 40:58 Gatekeeper Sydney band Meridian came to life in May 1994 with guitarist Karl Zeleny and drummer Peter Zantey joining forces to form what was to become primarily a Gothic Metal band. The pair found a bass player in Lemon Avenue’s Valerios, and things moved rather quickly from that point forward. The band rehearsed religiously, whilst also keeping a lookout for a potential frontman. Two weeks following vocalist David Wilkinson’s initiation into the group in July 1994, Meridian entered the recording studio to begin work on a five-track demo cassette entitled “Surreal Embrace“. The recording was completed by August 1994 and a CD master was submitted for duplication. Distributed internationally, the demo received praise from various publications and media organizations worldwide, resulting in record contracts with several independent labels (respectively). By this stage however, Valerios had decided to split from the band due to reasons only known to himself, and Meridian was thus forced to seek out a new bassist. Following the initial release of “Sundown Empire“ (1995) by small German Indie label Nyctalopia Records, the album sold over a thousand copies in Germany alone, receiving rave reviews from some of Europe’s leading alternative music publications, including Germany’s popular ZILLO magazine. March 1996 saw the album’s release Australia-wide by yet another small indie label, the Melbourne based Heartland Records. A release that was supported by a tour of Melbourne (this time including new bass player Adrielle Spence), incorporating the launch of “Sundown Empire“. While the Heartland release of the album sold reasonably well considering the label’s many limitations, Meridian elected to look elsewhere for a more financially stable business partner. Such a partner came in the form of large U.K. independent label Music For Nations, who seemed to be impressed by the band and made promises aplenty as to what collaboration between Meridian and MFN could bring (it was around this time that new bassist Elissa Walsh came on board). The band signed on the dotted line in May 1996, but by March 1997 the relationship was over. The Music For Nations release of “Sundown Empire“ saw the light of day in December ’96, unfortunately during this time MFN was being taken over by another company and the label’s priorities lay in promoting already established artists rather than newcomers. There was no advertising campaign, with the exception of a couple of small ads which included “Sundown Empire“ amongst a myriad of other MFN releases. The lack of adequate promotion subsequently proved detrimental to the sales of “Sundown Empire“, and Music for Nations dropped Meridian from its books along with numerous other bands. This came as a huge disappointment to Meridian, and by April 1997 the band had split (not forever!). After quite a considerably long time apart, and several respective solo projects later, Meridian rises from the ashes to focus on creating those melancholy sound scapes once again. Three quarters of the new album are already recorded, with more songs currently being written. So far, the track titles are “Harder You Fall“, “Sadness“, “Tainted“, “New Slavery“, “Shutdown“, “Under The Skin“ and “Final Day“. The album will also include a brilliant reworking of Dan Reed Network’s 1988 funk hit “Ritual“. Meridian is currently label-less, and is seeking a new deal in order to make the long overdue release of their second album possible. Some interest has been expressed within the European music industry, and hopefully at some point a recording contract will be signed and the new album released! Lineup: David Wilkinson: vocals Karl Zeleny: guitars Lemon Avenue’s Valerios: bass Peter Zantey: drums #Meridian#Gothic#Australia