HMTV Canada Interviews Naeara

 www.metalblade.com

www.neaera.com

HMTV Canada: Hi Guys, Congratulations on your new Album Omnicide - Creation Unleashed, which will be released through Metal Blade Records on May 26, 2009.   I dig how your band name represents an ancient character from Greek mythology but what I'm curious why did the band pick that name?

Sebastian: Our guitarist Stefan came up with the name as it caught his attention in a book named "Paradise Lost." Due to the other name suggestions being not much appreciated we decided to choose Neaera as the official band name. The story behind the person can be shortly described as dramatic. Neaera was a Greek slave whore who gained freedom after a court-suit. We found this quite fitting with regard to our critical lyrics and aggressive music. Neaera’s drama can be compared to modern world`s society where materialism and mental oppression of the individual is still a problem. Besides this metaphor we found it to be a beautiful name with a quite different sounding for a death metal band.

HMTV Canada: What motivates or inspires the band to write intelligent lyrics about earths extinction, no future for humanity?

Sebastian: As a band you can of course reach more people than as a single person, therefore you have a responsibility for what you express lyrically. We have always had critical views on today`s politics, society, personal conflicts and religious madness. There is quite a variety of uncomfortable but nonetheless important topics we stress. And unfortunately, there is no end in sight with regard to what inspires our lyrics.

HMTV Canada: There is something I can never get enough of when it comes to the pursuit of knowledge in lyrics can you tell us how Omnicide Creation Unleashed takes the listener on a journey and educates us of the end times of the human race when it comes to religion and politics?

Sebastian: Some of the lyrics are quite open for interpretation, some are more obvious.  The idea behind Omnicide is the end of all live on earth caused by human hand. I mean the knowledge and the material to play God and erase everything is apparently held in the hands of our modern world. It has to be philosophical when you begin to think about the possible reasons for this apocalypse. What is it with humanity not learning from the past. Why is history repeating itself for thousands of years? Are we on some sort of self-destructive course? In our opinion it all starts inside the individual. The constant fear of losing something causes you to think you need more. We identify ourselves with the things we own. Money for example, our youth, our jobs. If any of those things is threatened, it makes us feel threatened as the persons as we want ourselves to be reflected in them. So, the fear of losing something is the issue.  The financial crisis is a good example for this. Some people lose all their money and a few go crazy and kill themselves as they identify so much with their bank accounts. The songs "Age of Hunger" and "Caesura" deal with this critical point of view on the individual. The human mind tends to value everything outside. Those values are not free from the basic emotions such as hate or fear. Religious abuse is an example of taking people’s needs and twist their valuing of the world around in favor of an institution. The song "The nothing Doctrine" give examples for this. On a global scale the same issues such as greed and fear express themselves by people starting wars, dividing countries, raping the environment. They justify it maybe with religious opinions or reason. And this has been going on for thousands of years. The same human brain that builds hospitals and humanitarian institutions can be used planning concentration camps and nuclear weapons. Our songs "I am the rape" and "Omnicide" deal with oppression and ambivalent human behavior regarding different cultures and the environment. To shorten it up. What makes us proud being humans, the human mind, has on the other hand the power to destroy everything on this planet. On "Omnicide-creation unleashed" our lyrical focus is on present and past examples for humanity`s imperfection to give hints on what might happen in a dark future.

HMTV Canada:  I'm curious are there any songs that are personal from this Album or Neaera's previous Albums that are personal experiences or events the band has been through?

Sebastian: Some of the lyrics deal with grief or loss some with personal identity issues. I think those are topics many of our listeners can identify with. Of course, those particular lyrics are from the heart. But as I said before we want to keep it open for interpretation as well. Since we started out with the band, we`ve had many positive experiences with people enjoying the music collectively. Some of our Songs in the past where kind of appreciations of this collectiveness. 

HMTV Canada: Something I found interesting do you find lots of Artist today share the same views about the human race and are starting to educate society more today with their music?

Sebastian: One positive aspect about the modern world is the knowledge being easily accessible. This is a real advantage to past generations who were more vulnerable to propaganda and one way knowledge. This generation has the power of questioning the world from a more distanced point of view. Flaws of the human race, religious opinions and political systems become more obvious. Therefore, it is a logical thing for bands to deal with those issues as they represent a lot of people thinking the same way. And the growing number of Fans underlines the relevance of their uttered critical opinions.

HMTV Canada: After listening to some samples from Omnicide Creation Unleashed on your MySpace page the power packed energy and sound coming from your new material is awesome, has there been any challenges in producing this new Album?

Sebastian: We wanted " Omnicide Creation Unleashed" to be as raw and brutal as possible. Therefore, we were very glad to have Zeus taking care of the mastering. Recording in eastern Germany together with our friend Ali Dietz was very relaxed. It took us about three weeks to wrap everything up. The only thing we were concerned about was the mastering. Since Zeus lives and works in the United States and none of us flew over there to join him it took us a while to formulate our wishes with regard to the final sound. But after some days of email and Mp3 exchange he proved himself to be a real master of his work. He simply made the Album the way we wanted it to sound. And we are very happy with our decision choosing him for the job.

HMTV Canada:  How did Neaera land the opportunity to work with music producer Alexander Dietz, and metal mastering wiz Zeus for Omnicide Creation Unleashed?

Sebastian: Since our former two releases "Let the Tempest come" and "Armamentarium" where both recorded and mixed at the Jacob Hansen Studios in Denmark, we wanted to have a different approach to the new album. Simply to earn more experience and also to give our sound a nice variety. So, we made up our minds who we wanted to set in charge of the work. We early agreed on Zeus as the Chief of Mastering. As we are quite unknown in the U.S. Metal Blade Europe contacted Zeus and convinced him to work with us. Choosing Alex Dietz for the recording process was an easy decision. We are very close to him and his band Heaven Shall Burn. His Rape of Harmonies Studio had made some cool facility improvements and the sound engineers were all very professional and relaxed to work with.

HMTV Canada: Aside from previous lineup changes, I noticed Neaera has been true to keep their brutal hardcore successful sound in all their previous music production has it been tough to find the right fit of members and does the current line up now share the same influences for their music?

Sebastian: We have never changed our lineup. We all are into Old School Sweden Death but also like modern metal bands a lot. We take our inspiration from different Types of Extreme Metal such as Metalcore, Black and Death Metal. Another major influence is the songs we`ve already written. Like every other band we want to keep our sound unique and progressing. We know what the people like when we play live sets and this knowledge also drives us to keep on working on our sound.

HMTV Canada: I'm well aware that Neaera has played thousands of shows in hundreds of countries including a European tour with many popular Artist but I'm curious which favorite music venue comes to mind as being one of the most memorable or funny one and why?

Sebastian: I remember our only show in Moscow very well. We were all excited about how many people would show up and how they might react since we had never played Russia before. The concert was sold out. People went crazy, jumping off the stairs, tearing our clothes off. It was intense. Also, the whole after show party turned out to be more fun than we dared to expect. We drank a lot of Vodka and talked to many cool and interesting people.

HMTV Canada: What is included in the Limited Edition of "OMNICIDE - CREATION UNLEASHED" package and can we grab our copy in Canada or internationally worldwide?

Sebastian: I’m not too sure about whether it`s going to be shipped overseas. Besides the DVD we did record a cover version of Crowbars "The Lasting Dose" which is part of the bonus disc. We wanted the people here mainly in Germany to have an extra reason buying the album early so we can hit the charts, he-he-he. The Bonus disc is basically a long interview with the bandmembers with some pictures and live footage. It`s for Fans who want to know a bit more about what’s going on behind the band`s curtain.

HMTV Canada: What’s the bands focus for 2009 will the band be touring to promote Omnicide Creation Unleashed or are the members working on new material for another Album?

Sebastian: Nothing worth speaking of at the moment but plans for a tour are being made. We play a couple of Festivals in Germany this summer and we will see what the future brings. Currently we are curious about how the people like our new stuff. And some time in the future we maybe start working on something new.

 HMTV Canada: Before we wrap up our interview does the band have any shout outs to friends and groupies worldwide=D?

Sebastian: Thank you all very much for your interest in what we do! Thank you for this interview and thank YOU for reading it. Metal on Canadians! Sebbes and Neaera.

HMTV Canada: I would like to thank, Neaera and Metal Blade Records, for this interview opportunity. Horns High You Rock HMTV Canada.

Sebastian: answered these from Neaera.