The Awakening by Tainted

Within the first week the song was downloaded over 300 times, and forced the internet provider immediately to have to change their site to a more commercial host due to the traffic the site was getting. Tainted also setup a myspace website (www.myspace.com/taintednz) which has been continually growing their fan base since.

As offers for gigs started flooding in – their 3rd gig was supporting Auckland’s “8 Foot Sativa”, and their 4th supporting “Sinate” - both shows gaining Tainted instant acclaim throughout the New Zealand metal community.

Following this Tainted have toured the South Island under the wing of New Zealand heavy weights Sinate gaining further recognition as a band to keep an eye out for in the future.

Prior to touring with Sinate, just six months after playing their first gig Tainted went back into the studio, not to record another demo, but to create their first full length album. Produced by Sam Sheppard (8 Foot Sativa, Sinate), the debut album from Tainted titled “The Awakening” was released on April 2006 with great interest from all over New Zealand as well as interest from Germany, Sweden, Australia and USA.

The Album shot to number 10 on the official New Zealand Independent Charts, with acclaims from all areas of the New Zealand Media.

“It’s 10 steaming tracks of their own brand of metal. Brutal and pulling no punches with slamming arrangements and raw power”. Paul Martin (The Axeman) Rip It Up April/May 2006

“Christchurch’s beast TAINTED has been awakened” “after these guys sent out their demo mid 2005 I had to wait impatiently for a debut album but now the wait is over and The Awakening is here… Was it worth the wait? Hell yes it was!!”. Bjorn Henrikson Missing Link Vol 5 April/May

“this album is another example of the strength of NZ metal. Reminiscent of European acts they manage to retain a degree of individuality in a genre often plagued by copycats.” “the grooves are strong and the riffs tight”. Nick Anderson New Zealand Musician Vol. 12 No. 9 June/July

The album features 10 tracks of a cohesive mix of modern metal, death metal, thrash metal and black metal to create a punishing sonic soundscape laden with grooves, meaty riffs, insane drumming and inhuman vocals, it features guest vocals by Justin “jackhammer” Niessen (former 8 Foot Sativa vocalist) on the track Take The King.

Tainted have since then released a video for the song “Broken” which is getting regular airplay on national television, they are also getting regular airplay on radio stations like “The Rock” and “RDU”, they have played album release party’s in Christchurch and Auckland with excellent response and supported New Zealand’s own “Blindspott “on their “End the Silence” release.

With plans of touring New Zealand and looking at overseas opportunities expect to see Tainted in a town near you soon, in the mean time, BUY THE ALBUM!!!!!

Average Customer Review: 5