Atmosphere

Atmosphere, released in January 2011 by AOR Heaven, documents the period when Bad Habit's five-piece was at its most settled: Bax Fehling on vocals, Hal Marabel on guitar and keyboards, Sven Cirnski on lead guitar, Patrik Sodergren on bass, Jaime Salazar on drums. Marabel took on most of the work himself. He wrote every song, produced, played guitar, and filled in the keyboard parts as well. Ever since Doc Pat Shannon left, someone had always had to cover that keyboard seat, and here the job fell to Marabel too. Any reviewer expecting something placid from the title was knocked off balance. The opening trio of "In the Heat of the Night," "Words Are Not Enough" and "Every Time You Cry" is plainly heavier on guitar than its predecessor. After that it becomes the melodic rock you expected: the arena-lifting "I Wanna Be the One," the riff-led "I'll Die for You," three ballads in "Angel of Mine," "Save Me" and "Fantasy," the bounce of "Break the Silence," and "Without You" to close thirteen songs in 48 minutes. Some complained that the lyrics lean too far into lost love, but plenty of people name this as the band's high-water mark. Silence followed; reunion shows in 2018 led to Autonomy in 2021.