World War III

For Madina Lake, World War III closes one chapter and opens another. The Chicago quartet of twin brothers Nathan [Vocals] and Matthew Leone [Bass, Vocals], Mateo Camargo [Guitar, Programming], and Dan Torelli [Drums] has endured more in the past two years than most artists will experience over the course of an entire career. Since they released their sophomore full-length, 2009's Attics To Eden, there were moments of tragedy. There were moments of terror. There were moments of trepidation. There were moments of triumph. All of those moments have been captured in the band's entrancing and enthralling third epic, World War III, due out September 16, 2011 on 3Wise Records in Australia/NZ.

Madina Lake set the stage for an immersive three-album trilogy with their debut, From Them, Through Us, to You in 2007. Set in the fictional 1950's town of Madina Lake, the story began with the disappearance of a gorgeous local celebrity named Adalia. The denizens of the town frantically searched for her as the band introduced more characters in Attics To Eden. The plan for World War III was to outline the battle between good and evil in the final chapter of this fantasy, however, real evil intervened.

In June 2010, Matthew was brutally injured after stopping a man from beating his wife. He ended up in a coma for five days with a fractured skull, broken jaw, and a swollen brain. Doctors had to remove a third of his skull in order for the swelling in his brain to go down. Musicians and the world came to Matthew's aid, with The Smashing Pumpkins even playing a Chicago benefit that raised $80,000 to cover his medical expenses. After four months of recovery, Matthew was back in the band's studio, The Attic, working on new material with his brother and bandmates. This heinous trauma eventually filtered into Madina Lake's most powerful and poignant music yet.

"We basically survived a bombshell throughout making the record," recalls Matthew. "The unexpected reality of what we went through was instilled into this phase of the story. In the mythological realm of Madina Lake, there's a palpable sense that something catastrophic is on the horizon. When my accident happened in real life, it was a good example of what we were trying to depict in the story. We were writing about the fear of the unknown. Then, it became the known."

Instead of crumbling under the weight of this experience, Madina Lake grew stronger in its wake. Nathan goes on, "In a totally bizarre way, our lives really wrote the ending of the story that we had in mind the whole time. We were literally living out an extreme example of the trilogy's entire point."

As a result, Madina Lake sound more alive than ever before. Recorded and written with Camargo self-producing, World War III sees the group following every creative impulse to the fullest. On the album's first single "Hey Superstar," elegantly ethereal textures bleed into propulsive guitars just before an anthemic hook takes hold. The song rises and falls like a roller coaster of riffs and melodies.

"Imagineer" proved to be a truly "perfect" dream come true for the twins. Matthew and Nathan planned on taking a week-long retreat to Sedona to hang with legendary Smashing Pumpkins mainman Billy Corgan. Focusing on Matthew's healing, they didn't think they'd end up working on music with Corgan, but "Imagineer" was born from one of Corgan's riffs during that trip.

"Billy met and even surpassed our expectations of what kind of man and artist he is," says Matthew. "While he was working on Pumpkins music in Sedona, we made a really deep connection with him, philosophizing about music and life. He took us hiking up through one of the vortexes. It's like a power zone. We sat on a rock up there for two hours and had a two-hour conversation that was the most rewarding and fulfilling engagement we've ever had. On day six, he was like, 'Alright, let's work on a Madina song.' That's where 'Imagineer' came from, and it's one of the most powerful moments on the record."

For Nathan, there's one crucial thing he wants listeners to walk away with. "You can survive anything," he declares. "What goes down shall rise again. Life will throw things at you that you can't even fathom surviving, but you can. If someone feels that after listening to World War III, we've done our job. To have the opportunity to make music, we're the luckiest people in the world. Thanks to everyone for saving the life of my brother and the band."

On to the next chapter and beyond for Madina Lake…

'World War III' is released Sept 16 on 3Wise Records.