The Great Divide formed in 2011 when Pier Paolo Cianca (guitar), Vladimiro Melchiorre (drums), Alessio Ripani (bass) and the Italian-American singer songwriter Gino Maradé (lead vocals) started playing together in a converted garage in the outskirts of Rome.

They set off on a prolific and intense two years, writing almost a dozen new songs and recording a five track EP, before Gino Maradé has to return to New York in 2013.
Then the band took a short hiatus and changed the line-up: Mauro Pala (Avekey and Dr. Hyde) joined the band as lead singer, and long-time friend and mentor Gabriele Sorrentino (Hyperdrive) finally maked his official entrance at the guitar.

The line-up was consolidated and ready to register their first Album (UNION - 2017), recorded in a weekend in the old fashioned way: live, “plug and play” into the amps, without editing in post production, looking for the same magic, energy and interplay heard on the albums of the seventies.

The band then started an intense 2-year live season, rocking the stages around Italy and the eastern Europe (Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland). After signin with Agoge Records, on July 2019 a new Mix and Master has been released with the name “UNION Reloaded”.

The band is always looking forward, and is currently working on brand new songs for the next album.

Influences

The band finds its sound and defines its own language somewhere between the hard rock of Velvet Revolver, Backyard Babes and Foo Fighters, and the grunge of Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots, with crossover and alternative rock influences.

Track Suggestions

Bone, So Wrong, Grinder, Sleeper.

REVIEWS & HYPE

“Union” has already received positive feedback from several magazines (Metalforce – included in the best 10 albums of 2017, Fireworks) and has been played on some of the most relevant rock radio stations (Radio Rock, Radio Kaos, Radio Godot, Radio Nova Sorso, etc ...).

Press Reviews

“Top 10 2017 Album”, “Worthy hairs of Layne Staley and Scott Weiland”,
"... a debut album of a quality rarely found today"
"... the Roman five piece gives us a very high quality album.",
"... great debut work of the Great Divide.

Band promoted with praise.", "... listen to this work that deserves your full attention."

– Metalforce "The Great Divide brings to life the hard rock sound of the late 90’s with an original and overflowing character, worthy of bands that currently play main stages around Europe and the United States.""A good start for a band that can fly across the border making us proud of a made in Italy idea."

– Ukizero "Union is undoubtedly a high level production and an excellent debut album, careful to remain faithful to the mix of the '90s, while giving a rather original and personal cut.

– Dangerofmusic “A work characterized by an elevated quality of execution, whose outcome is a clean and full sound which is even more remarkable in light of the fact that the LP has been recorded live and underwent no final editing.

Another interesting feature of the album (wich is revealing with regard to the band’s technical proficiency) is its internal consistency: although the tracks display a considerable degree of nuance, the sound of the band remains clearly identifiable..”

– Ondalternativa “Rome is not that far from California after all. Were the Great Divide born in the US Pacific Southwest, their time had already come” Debaser