by Kenneth Morton

Based out of the town of Muenster in Germany, post hardcore collective Neaera present a dynamic barrage of sound that should excite any fan of extreme music. From the same area that brought the world Caliban and Heaven Shall Burn, it won't be long before Neaera gain their very own worldwide following. Their latest release Armamentarium arrived earlier this year from Metal Blade Records. Here is an interview we recently conducted with one of the membersm to find out more about the brutal band with the obscure name…

Where is the band from and what is the music scene like there?
We all live in a small German town called Muenster, with many students and bicycles. The music scene here in Muenster, like all over Germany, has been growing in favour of metal for the past couple of years. And it seems as if the crowd is getting younger with every show we play.

How does Armamentarium compare to your previous records?
It’s a bit more brutal, with even less melodies and a slower tempo. We tuned the guitars a bit down and focused more on groove elements. Also, certain parts in the songs last longer. It is overall more mature I guess, and our live experience helped a lot realizing it.

Is there any story or concept behind the CD title Armamentarium?
Not really a concept. Armamentarium is a Latin word. It is very powerful in meaning. The title track deals with social isolation in a modern society. The only way to stand this is getting armed to protect your inner emotions and personal opinions. You have to be ready to fight for yourself and defend it against what others try to tell you. Our art worker Terje from Norway did a great job visualizing this topic.

Where did you get the ideas for some of the lyrics this time around? Please cite a few song examples and what they are about?
Like on our former releases Armamentarium scratches a variety of topics. Most of them deal critically with, politics, social and personal problems. The title track Armamentarium as I said deals with the individual need for shelter and protection. The opening track Spearheading the Spawn deals with the fatal war on terror and how it turns out to be years after being proclaimed. The Need For Pain deals with the acception of your personal flaws. And Synergy is a thank you to our fans. But we have no love songs, hehehe.

Tell me about the US Bonus Track The Cleansing Void and where the song came from. What was it like having Producer Jacob Hansen contribute his vocal tracks? How did this idea come about?
The original song The Crimson Void is from our former record Let the Tempest Come. We asked Jacob to sing the chorus on one song because we knew he is a good singer. He also used to sing in his old band Invocator. He chose this song, sent us the result and we agreed on making it a bonus song for the Japanese along with the last album. When Metalblade decided to release our new album Armamentarium in the U.S., which wasn’t planned initially, we put The Cleansing Void as a bonus for the Americans on it too.

Has Neaera ever played here in the States or do you plan to do so in the future?
No. We haven’t conquered the States yet ;-) Except our guitarist Tobi who helped Heaven Shall Burn out on their recent, first U.S. tour, we haven’t played overseas. But we’re definitely willing to come over to rock with you guys. We’re good friends with some U.S. bands and are excited about whether the stories they tell about U.S. crowd are true. Hopefully next year we can realize it to come over… we’ll see.

What is a live Neaera show like for those of us who have yet to see you play?
Like throwing shit in a fan. Hahahaha. No. We love playing live. Either clubs or festival gigs. We always have fun. And even though we’re not the 100% professional band, we give 110% on stage.

What was it like playing in places like Slovenia and Croatia? Where they somewhat difficult to book at all?
No. No pirates or criminals were around. And we still have our entire body organs. Hahaha. In Slovenia we had a great time on last year’s Kataklysm tour. They just got the Euro there. Everybody is speaking English. They’re very friendly and open-minded and the ladies are gorgeous ;-) We were even filmed for MTV Adria with that small club show. And there are many requests for shows from this region.

Who are some other German metal bands that you have toured with and could recommend?
Heaven Shall Burn, Caliban, Maroon, Fear My Thoughts, Deadlock… just to name a few of the many good Metal bands out of Germany. We’ve toured with each and are great friends with them all. We often meet on Festivals and it’s always fun hanging out with them.

What made you decide to use such an unusual band name and what does the word Neaera mean?
Neaera is a Greek name. It is a God’s daughter, but a historical Greek whore was also called Neaera. There is lots of written evidence of her case. And she gained freedom at last. In the end we chose the name because it is quite unusual but looks and sounds beautiful.

Is anyone in Neaera involved with any other bands or projects at the moment?
No.

Which member of Neaera would you say is on Myspace way too much?
Hmm. I really don’t know. Maybe me. But since none of us has a personal account, the band’s site is the only way to get in touch with other Myspace members.

What are the future plans for your band?
Currently we are writing new shit which we are planning to produce early next year. For this year we have some Festivals in the summer and maybe a longer tour in the fall on schedule.

Any messages for your fans here in the States?
We’d all love to meet you guys in the future. Thanks for your interest. Thanks for reading this.

Neaera Links

Neaera on Myspace: Their Official Myspace Page!
The Highwire Daze Home Page: Return to the Main Page!

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