SCALA MERCALLI -

SCALA MERCALLI - MY DAEMONS
The Italian band Scala Mercalli (don't know!) was formed as early as 1992 which is a damn long time ago. It is sad that most people probably have not heard of the band for there is some real good heavy metal here. The demo has four cuts on it with the last track being a decent cover of Iron Maiden's Be Quick Or Be Dead. The music is 100% heavy metal, the singer is a mix between Bobby Blitz of Overkill and a shrill version of the old Jacobs Dream singer. Scalla Mercalli is hardly the most original heavy metal band out of Italy, but that is surely beside the point when the metal is so undiluted, the songs so cool and the hair so long (well mostly). Write to the either at ciccoli@tiscalinet.it or visit www.scalamercalli.com. - Sheila Wes Det

SCALA MERCALLI - 12TH LEVEL - AB  
Scala Mercalli is an Italian band that we had presented at Metallian before, although it seems that they fared better at the demo stage. The music on 12th Level is real power metal and indeed good riffs are scattered throughout the album. The album begins with a thrashing riff and all seems to be well until the vocals of Christian Bartolacci flood out of the speakers. Not only is he too high in the mix, but also the shrilly screams reach the point of silliness. This is not an acquired taste. This is too much. The backing vocals, like on Bloody Night, for example, do not help. The disc’s best riff is on The New Kingdom and the song begins in fine form. The Sign is a long and boring song. Regardless, the screams are over the top, the leads abrupt and forced and the 58 minutes pretty wasted. The guys do look cool though with their metal hair, looks and leather, although one has to ask where Scala Mercalli got that photograph of Tower of Pisa circa 2025. - Sheila Wes Det