by Kenneth Morton

The mighty German hardcore band Caliban has returned with 8th magnum opus that is guaranteed to drop kick your ass into the nearest most pit. Entitled Say Hello To Caliban, the band continues to gain respect and admiration from extreme music fans all across the world. We recently had a chance to interview front man Andreas Doerner to catch up on all the latest happenings. So say hello to Andreas and read all about it here...

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Caliban, and how long the band has been together.
My name is Andreas Doerner and I do the scream vocals in Caliban. Our band has been around for over 11 years now.

Say Hello To Tragedy is the 8th full length Caliban album. Did you ever think you'd make it to 8 albums, and how does this one compare to your previous releases?
Never, I never thought something like that would happen, but I think it's amazing!
The new record is more aggressive, heavier, darker and more technical. All in all, the new record is harder than we've ever been before.

Is there any story or concept behind the CD title Say Hello To Tragedy?
It's a 50% concept album, at least lyric wise. The Awakening was more in a positive way and the new one is back to the dark side of life. It's about pain, evil and tragedies, some true facts, some just made up... enjoy your life, before it's too late...

Please cite two songs from your new CD and what the lyrics are about.
24 Years is the opener of the CD, the song is very heavy, fast and brutal... the song is about the Joseph Fritzl case, this man kept his daughter locked up in his basement for 24 years, raped and used her and made 6 kids with her... SICK... Joseph Fritzl's wife was living upstairs and knew what was going on... SICK... I wrote the song from the daughters side, who was kept and raped there from her own dad... SICK...
Caliban's Revenge will be the first single off the record... the song is a good summary of the record, this song reflects what the new record is about... Lyric-wise it is the song about the life of Caliban (the character from The Tempest), why he's so angry, pissed, sad and full of bloodlust... it's a short and tragic love story ; )

What was it like touring with the legendary Kreator and were they cool to hang out with?
It was an experiment for us to tour with a Thrash-Metal Band like Kreator...it was sometimes hard to get the fans of Kreator to move, maybe they were too old, or maybe we are just too young ;)
But it was cool to hang out with the guys, especially with Mille P.; he's a very nice guy.

If you could cover one Kreator song in your set, which song would it be and why?
We already did a cover song from Kreator and it was Extreme Aggression... it was the favourite song of the most of us, we played the song at a birthday party, it was just fun...

Do you think you guys will ever record The Split Program 3 with Heaven Shall Burn?
Maybe there will be one in the future since we're back together in the same family, but we haven't talked about that yet.

What could one expect from a live Caliban show this time around?
Power, energy, fun, sweat, mosh pits...

What is your local metal / hardcore scene like and do you have any bands that you could recommend?
To be honest, I have no idea... there is too much going on, too many bands, too many styles... and there a lot of metalcore bands as well, but I think "the hype" is almost over and many of the "newer" bands are already dead or will die... there some bands of friends I really like Heaven Shall Burn, The Mercury Arc, Neaera, Maroon... and something not metal or hardcore: Milhaven, Blitzz, Bohren und der Club of Gore.

What was it like touring in Japan and how did audiences over there differ from the European and American audiences?
It was just amazing to play in Japan, everything is soooooo different there, crazy... the people are very respectful in between the songs, which is kind of strange... I think they are quiet, because someone (me) is talking, I don't know, odd... during the shows / songs they're crazy as a shithouse rat, thumbs up!!!

Is there anywhere in the world where you haven't played at that you'd like to go?
Yes, there are places we've never been so far, for example New Zealand, China, Africa and some more... but we're still young and have enough time to go there ;)

When you look back at your earlier work, what do you think of it now?
I'm still proud of the stuff we did in the past, of course some of the songs we wrote are not perfect, or not even good, especially some of my older lyrics, but like I said, no regrets, proud of what we did, proud of where we stand.

Any messages for your fans out here in the Los Angeles area?
I want to see your asses at one of our shows, I want you to scream, to sing a long, to mosh, to have fun... and that's an order!!! Thanks everyone for your support all over the years... don't forget our new record Say Hello To Tragedy and see you on the road... later, Andy*

Caliban links

Caliban on Myspace: The Official Myspace Page for Caliban!
The Highwire Daze Home Page: Return to the Main Page!

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