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Münster, Westphalia, summer of 2003: Tobias Buck, guitarist in the death/grind band MALZAN, forms a side project in order to pursue his interest in hardcore and Swedish death metal. The original line-up, consisting of Buck, Sebastian Heldt (d), Benny Hilleke (v), and Benjamin Donath (b), is quickly assembled, and, just before the debut show, THE NINTH GATE is chosen as the band’s name. Soon after this show the band is joined by guitarist Stefan Keller, whose riff ideas further enrich the creative output of the young group.
New songs are written, and the existing ones are made to fit the band’s new found twin guitar attack. Over two consecutive weekends in February 2004 the band lays down a demo at the Docma-Klang studio in Osnabrück with excellent results. The sound quality captured by producer Matze turns out to be rather exceptional for a demo CD.
The CD is immediately presented to fans and label people, gaining excellent feedback all around. The actual course of events, however, surpasses everybody’s highest expectations.
2nd April 2004 – less then a year after the band’s inception and only a few months into the band’s existence in its present line-up – THE NINTH GATE are offered a recording contract by Metal Blade Records, literally making the five youngsters’ dreams come true. Understanding that a new name is needed to replace the old moniker, which had been born more out of necessity than anything else, the quintet starts brainstorming, soon emerging with a name that represents the band’s philosophy as a whole. The name is that of a character from Greek mythology, a woman who was sold into sexual slavery, being proscribed, oppressed and exploited all her life. This woman was called NEAERA.
A contract is signed between Metal Blade Records and the newly named NEAERA, who enter Stage One Studio with veteran producer Andy Classen in November 2004 in order to record their debut album. “The Rising Tide Of Oblivion” is released on March 21, 2005, being met almost exclusively with positive reviews.
After the release of their debut CD, the band is confronted with a lot of interviews, booking inquiries and media interest for the first time, transforming the initially planned side project into the serious, up-and-coming German death metalcore act it is today. After a few weekend shows, the band is finally able to fulfill its second biggest aspiration besides a recording contract, their first big European tour supporting huge names in the scene. NEAERA play 24 shows as part of the Hell on Earth Tour, which also features HEAVEN SHALL BURN, AS I LAY DYING, EVERGREEN TERRACE, AGENTS OF MAN and END OF DAYS. The tour turns into the band’s biggest success on a personal and musical level, becoming a major landmark in their career. Many weekend shows follow in countries like Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Holland, Denmark and Estonia. Another short tour with CALIBAN, FEAR MY THOUGHTS, DESTINY and NARZISS rounds up a fantastic year, in which NEAERA played a total of 60 to 70 shows.
Musically speaking, the band doesn’t rest on their laurels either. A studio date for January 2006 at Denmark’s Hansen studios with producer Jacob Hansen (FEAR MY THOUGHTS, MAROON, COMMUNIC, SOUL DEMISE) is already booked in June 2005. The songwriting process takes up the best part of the year, with Tobias Buck, Stefan Keller and Sebastian Heldt writing roughly one song a month. The studio sessions with Jacob Hansen turn out to be extremely gratifying, more than living up to the band’s expectations. The band’s sophomore album, “Let The Tempest Come”is released by Metal Blade Records on April 7, 2006.
Album number two proves that the band is not only able to cope with the immense pressure generated by their successful debut, but also that they have matured as musicians. The new songs are met with enthusiastic reactions both by fans and press. Among other remarkable achievements, “Let The Tempest Come” gets a perfect 7 out of 7 score in the German edition of Metal Hammer – just like “The Rising Tide Of Oblivion” did before. In March 2006 the band shoots a video for the title track in the Münster club “Sputnikhalle”. As soon as the album is recorded, the band gets another chance to go on tour and test the new material in a live setting. One more time it’s CALIBAN who take NEAERA out as part of the two-and-a-half-week “Darkness over Europe” tour along with US band THE AGONY SCENE. The new songs get excellent reactions, causing boiling hot pits everywhere. While on tour the band shoot another video – this time for the song “Paradigm Lost” – in Munich, impressively documenting the special chemistry existent between the band and its audience.
After an energetic record release show for “Let The Tempest Come” at home at the Triptychon club in Münster, the band goes on to play its first major festivals, the most prominent being Pressure Fest, Summer Breeze, Vainstream Rockfest and Summerblast. At these shows the band proves that it’s able to free the same sort of energy on a big stage and in front of a large crowd as it does in a sweaty club show, getting both hardcore fans and metalheads into their shows.
After the festival season the band starts concentrating on the songwriting again, playing sporadic shows at the weekends. In October NEAERA play a 4-day headliner mini-tour with their colleagues MISERY SPEAKS, also from Münster. In December there’s a major highlight in the band’s career, a weekend trip to Russia. At two memorable shows in St. Petersburg and Moscow the band is celebrated by a frenetic Russian audience, constantly pushing each other into new levels of intensity. Once again, the year 2006 is brought to a close with a successful Xmas tour with CALIBAN, HEAVEN SHALL BURN, DEADLOCK, AS WE FIGHT, MISERY SPEAKS and FIRE IN THE ATTIC.
After the tour is before the tour; fresh home from the Vainstream Santa Claws Rocknight tour and after only 4 days rest, NEAERA go out to co-headline the Road to Devastation tour through Europe with Canadian hyperblasters KATAKLYSM. Along for the ride are their buddies FEAR MY THOUGHTS and Canadian tech-death metallers QUO VADIS. On the tour, which due to certain circumstances becomes quite rough at times, the band is able to conquer various new territories such as Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia. Replacing guitarist Stefan Keller for the tour is HEAVEN SHALL BURN member Alexander Dietz, who does an excellent job.
In mid-April the band plays another four-day mini-tour with MISERY SPEAKS, with Alexander Dietz helping out on guitar again. Even without their full line-up the band can easily create the right energy for their live shows.
Besides working on new material and doing pre-production at a producer friend’s studio, the band busies itself preparing to film a show at the Tryptichon in Münster, with the intention of including it as a bonus DVD on the limited edition of the new album. The DVD recording show on May 19th is sold out a week in advance and the 400 fans in attendance make it probably the most intense concert the club has ever witnessed.
Just one day after the show Tobias Buck and Sebastian Heidt head for the familiar Hansen Studios to begin recording the third NEAERA full-length album entitled “Armamentarium”. On this album the general direction is meant to stay the same; away from excessive arrangements, towards more aggression. Therefore the guitars are downtuned a half note, in order to give the songs a fuller sound and more brutality. A novelty within the production process is the “dual” production with a second producer outside of Hansen Studio; Benny recorded his vocals in the Rape of Harmonies Studio in the Eastern German town of Triptis with producers Alexander Dietz and Ralf Müller. The end result is NEAERA’s most brutal and massive record to date, which will be released on September 4th, 2007!
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