Atomic Opera

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Atomic Opera are a hard rock band from Houston, Texas. Their style blends art rock, metal, medieval influences, and eastern music.

Formed in the late 80s, the band began when founding member Frank Hart moved from Missouri and joined forces with producer/manager Sam Taylor. The lineup was fleshed out with a few different Houston-area musicians over the next few years. In 1994, they landed a deal with Giant records and released their first full album, For Madmen Only.

Often compared with King's X (who was also managed and produced by Taylor), Atomic Opera forged their own path with poetic lyrics, varied instruments, and strong Christian influences. Unlike some of their contemporaries, the band did little to hide its faith in its lyrics, but in some ways avoided the stereotypes of Christian rock, as most songs focused on challenging the norms of Christianity and on the relationship between God and man.

After struggling to gain mainstream popularity, the band broke up in 1995 and parted ways with Taylor. Hart continued to write music and decided to release a follow up album in 1997 under the Atomic Opera name called Penguin Dust, recruiting former drummer Mark Poindexter and multi-instrumentalist Kemper Crabb to assist; this album was released directly by Hart and shopped to various independent outlets.

Due to the strength of Penguin Dust, Metal Blade Records quickly signed the band to a long term deal. Crabb became a full time member, with longtime Hart friends John Simmons and Ryan Birsinger also rounding out the lineup. While working on new material, Hart compiled the album Alpha and Oranges, a collection of unreleased tracks originally from the For Madmen Only lineup, and released this independently as well. In 2000, the band released Gospel Cola on Metal Blade with its new lineup; the album garnered some positive notice in both Christian and mainstream music outlets.

Since that time, the band have endured a lot of setbacks (such as a flooded recording studio) and pursued various side projects (such as raising families, session work, multimedia projects, and managing Hart's label Feverdream Records). After adding Trip Wamsley to the lineup in 2004, the band are currently working on finishing their next recording, The Mystery of Hope.

[edit] Band members

Frank Hart - vocals, electric guitar, cello, bass
Kemper Crabb - vocals, mandolin, recorder, dulcimer, harmonica (on Penguin Dust and Gospel Cola)
Ryan Birsinger - bass, Chapman Stick, vocals (on Gospel Cola)
Trip Wamsley - bass (joined after release of Gospel Cola)
John Simmons - drums, vocals (on Gospel Cola)
Mark Poindexter - drums (on For Madmen Only, Alpha and Oranges, and Penguin Dust)
Jonas Velasco - bass, vocals (on For Madmen Only and Alpha and Oranges)
Jonathan Marshall - electric guitar, vocals (on For Madmen Only and Alpha and Oranges)
Len Sonnier - bass, vocals (on Alpha and Oranges)