Artist: Neaera
Album: Neaera
Genre: Metalcore
Country: Germany
Release Date: 28th of February, 2020
Released via Century Media Records
Cover Artwork © Century Media Records, 2020
Life can be strange sometimes. People enter and leave your life and in retrospect you don’t know why. You had a good time, the memories last for your lifetime but the time spent with these people is rather short.
In the early 2000s, Metalcore was THE thing. Bands like Killswitch Engage or As I Lay Dying were everywhere and Parkway Drive were at their heels. But not only American bands were at their prime those days. Caliban and Heaven Shall Burn were big names in the German Metalcore scene. In that time I “met” Neaera. I really enjoyed the first three albums, but then I lost touch and I don’t know why.
It seemed as if – back in the days (and today a lot of bands act the same) – your first album is really heavy, the second one has THAT one hit and raises you to increased popularity. The third one tries very hard to recreate that one hit they had with the last album and waters down the heaviness very much. The good bands don’t fall into that trap. Neaera found their sound and stuck to it. They refined it with every album and retained a very high level of quality with every release.
So seven years after the last album Ours is the Storm their new self-titled album is here. When the intro “(Un)Drowned” ends and “Catalyst” begins I’m right at the beginning of the 2000s. Shredding, screaming and lyrics with important messages. „Carrier“ is my favorite song on this album and its message is more up to date than ever regarding the refugees coming from Syria and what goes on at the borders of Europe. Another highlight for me is „Sunset of Mankind“, especially the ending of that song is pure greatness.
This album reminds me of what was good about Metalcore in first place, combining what is great about both genres: thrashing, fast songs with just the right amount of breakdowns to keep yourself moving. This album is highly recommended if you also want to get in touch with Metalcore again.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
8 / 10
Favorite tracks:
“Carriers”
“Sunset of Mankind”
As usual, we added the favorite track(s) to our Transcended Review Playlist 2020.
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