There is at least 7 bands named Merlin:
1. - Merlin is a spyrock band from Oslo, Norway
In the shadow around the cover, only hit by the moonlight, one can hint a silhouette. Unaware that they are being watched, Henry Mancini and Danny Elfman meet and are thereby painted into a cafe by Edward Hopper. A gunshot in Seattle deprives the lurking cat of its shadow. In the shimmer of a streetlight, the cat shows it true form. That is Merlin. The band is currently recording “The Manhattan Project”.
2. - Merlin was Edin Dervišhalidović’s highly popular and influential Yugoslavian folk rock band formed in 1983 which recorded 5 studio albums. Those are “Kokuzna vremena” , “Teško meni sa tobom (a još teže bez tebe)” , “Merlin” , “Nešto lijepo treba da se desi” , “Peta strana svijeta” .
In 1991 Dervišhalidović began his solo career as Dino Merlin.
3. - Merlin is a Brutal Death Metal band from Russia
4. - Merlin is a Lithuanian rock band.
5. - Merlin is an artist hailing from Aylmer Quebec, Canada. Sometimes confused with a UK rapper of the same name, Merlin debuted on the Canadian music scene with his first record in 1993: the noisy, hip-hop heavy A Noise Supreme. This was followed by 1995’s Merlin’s Arcade, the gritty industrial music classic Viddy Well Little Brother in 1997, and finally, his major label debut in 2001, Milkbar Stereo. Merlin was also the frontman for another project of his called Ma, which labeled itself as a power-pop group and released the full-length album Cool Chicks and Other Babes in 1996, along with a single to promote it, “Whine”. Whine was a parody of The Doughboys’ hit song, “Shine”.
Until Milkbar Stereo, all of Merlin’s releases were published on his independent record label, Channel 3 Records, and he also produced and released music by other local bands including Sugarbush, Stony and The Archer Micro Space Patrol. Cargo Records, the distributor for Merlin’s Channel 3 releases, eventually went out of business. Apparently this is when he decided to start shopping his demos to the major labels.
After signing a contract with MCA Universal, and meeting an executive that apparently loved his music, but was subsequently fired, the label’s apathetic marketing staff had no idea how promote or market Merlin’s new album. Yet they released it anyways. A music video was created for the track “Ultrasensitive”, but no single, second video, or anything else was created to help the album sell. In fact, Merlin was the one who set up and paid for his website of the time, Milkbarstereo.com. Merlin claims his demos sounded just as good as the tracks produced with outside help hired by MCA.
After the disaster that was Milkbar Stereo, Merlin reinvented himself with a new label, new moniker and new style of music. Leaving Channel 3 Records behind and starting up New Age Hardcore Recordings, he formed the “fucked up karaoke group” “NAM:LIVE!”. Merlin says the band hates labels, but people love them, so he came up with a new genre to classify NAM:LIVE! in: electro hip-hop. It’s fairly accurate, but the music put out by NAM:LIVE! shows influences from almost every genre imaginable. NAM:LIVE!’s first recording, a self-titled effort, was released as a soundtrack for an upcoming documentary on the music industry and the evil corporations behind them.
Currently, Merlin is working on a second NAM:LIVE! project called The Testament, which will be a 200 page book of art, photographs and literature, with an accompanying music CD. Ever the extrovert, Merlin dabbles heavily in photography, and sought to meet real women on the streets and photograph them for the book. Oh, and he also goes by the name of Bronxxx now - using his mother’s maiden name, Bronques, as his moniker.
6. - Merlin Brazilian rock/pop band singing in Esperanto
7. - Merlin is a Rock band from Czech republic
8. - Merlin is a Grime Producer from London, UK
9. - Merlin was a glam rock band with one album released by CBS in 1974. Merlin included vocalist Alan Love, guitarist Jamie Moses, keyboard player Bob Webb, bassist Paul Taylor, and drummer Dave Whitwhick. There were also several other bands named Merlin at the time.
10. - Merlin is a psychadelic sludge drone/dark ambient band from Kansas City, KS. Comprised of two members (who wish to remain anonymous) in the deep dark dungeon abyss. their sound has been related to the following;
“Letting your ears traverse dark, magical and often terrifyingly fantastic worlds unbeknownst to mankind.”