 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| w/ STEFAN KELLER |
| Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: I read that the band name Neaera was chosen because the band felt that the name represented the philosophy of the band as a whole. Can you elaborate on the connection between the two because from what I know, Neaera is a woman from Greek mythology who unfortunately was sold into sexual slavery and I don’t assume sexual slavery is your philosophy? At least I hope not. (Laughs) Stefan Keller: I think I can take your fears here, Dawn. The story of this woman called Neaera is still a very widespread fate of a lot of women and men around the globe. Only, reality often lacks the happy end. The story of Neaera is a story of oppression, repression and injustice, but in the end, she manages to free herself from this injustice and live a life in freedom and self-responsibility. In that way, it represents the philosophy of the band as a whole. It is a metaphor for the value of freedom and justice, which are two very important values worth fighting for. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: It seemed like the band has progressed since your last effort titled The Rising Tide of Oblivion. Would you agree and was there any pressure felt to surpass your last release? Stefan Keller: Actually, we didn’t feel any pressure at all. At least, it wasn’t an awkward kind of pressure. We just had a good feeling during the song-writing process and also liked the new stuff we wrote better than the “old” stuff. We just had a good feeling and that gave us a certain self-confidence that didn’t allow for any pressure. I am glad you notice some progression, Dawn. There was no specific song writing for the Tempest as we simply continued to write new stuff. So, there wasn’t any break really after The Rising Tide of Oblivion was finished. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: When speaking of the band progressing and evolving. What in your opinion do you see has been the differentiating factor in Neaera between Let the Tempest Come and The Rising Tide of Oblivion? Stefan Keller: We didn’t want to change our sound at all, but we planned to make it thrashier, more melancholic, more dynamic and in no way commercial. We omitted the clean vocals and wanted to combine more growls with screams, more brutal parts with nice melodic parts and we wanted to make use of more conventional song writing structures and repetitions. Apart from that, only Sebastian, Tobias and myself wrote the whole record this time and I was solely responsible for the lyrics this time. That’s the differences in a nutshell. If we can still call this a nutshell (Laughs). Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Moving on to the new album. Can you talk about the concept or what inspired Let the Tempest Come because it seems as if the band was writing from a political standpoint, especially in the tracks Plagueheritage and God-Forsaken Soil? Stefan Keller: That is true. Desecrators and Mechanisms of Standstill are the other two political songs on the record. The lyrical concept of our band is to write both political and personal lyrics. Let the Tempest Come, for example, is an optimistic, hope giving, encouraging track. It is meant to spread some confidence and trust in oneself. But, The Crimson Void is a song about escapism and desolation. Overall, we try to sing about different issues in different ways and hopefully can thus create a diversity, which does neither bore our dear readers nor ourselves and which maybe reflect the complexity of life at least a little bit. Yet, despite our political lyrics, we wouldn’t call us a political band. Our lyrics are an offer and if someone only wants to listen to the music, than that’s great, too. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: What is most important when it comes to the creation of the feeling or style of a Neaera song? Stefan Keller: I’d say the dynamics and the feeling that we didn’t steal or copy anything from other bands. I mean, obviously, we have not invented a new style of metal and we probably never will. In addition, of course, there are loads of musical quotations and obvious influences in our music. Nevertheless, I remember that tons of ideas and riffs of mine have been rejected by Tobias and Sebastian because they said it resembles other riffs too strongly. I know that we are pretty fast with the songwriting, but we are still very critical and hard on ourselves. The final version of The World Devourers, for example, is the fifth version of the song. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: The recording on this record seems more chunkier and beefed-up as opposed to the last album. Was that a conscious effort upon entering the studio? It really sounds great! Stefan Keller: Oh, thanks a lot! Thanks. I think it is hard to speak of a conscious effort though. The difference of the sound is due to a different studio and a different producer. Jacob Hansen, who did the Tempest, simply has another style and taste than Andy Classen. We are also happier with the new sound as Jacob really knew which shape our material needed. He’s awesome anyhow. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Let’s talk about your playing in general on this album and how it compares to previous works, and your approach to harnessing this sound. Stefan Keller: I would describe the development from The Rising Tide of Oblivion to the Tempest as “natural”. It is the grade of development, which was possible for the band in that period of time. We have played around 70 shows last year and also did our first tour. This had a great effect on our music. Especially, when it comes to limits in terms of playing fast and more complicated riffs and drum parts. Particularly our drummer, who I would call the best musician in the band, really improved a lot. However, I would never tell him. Someone told me never to tell drummers that they play well. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: As guitarists, both you and Tobias seem very selective in your use of guitar solos. On this album, not every song has them. How do you decide whether a song needs a solo as well as who is going to play it? With two guitarists that can be a tough decision. Stefan Keller: Oh, fortunately, that has never been a problem. Especially, when only one guitarist is capable of doing that. (Laughs) No, that was a bad joke. I’m sorry. In fact, Tobias is great at tapping, which I am totally crap at. Therefore, I am better at playing leads and melodic parts than Tobias. So, we are lucky that we don’t have to fight over parts. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Who do you feel comes up with the best riffs, you or Tobias? I’m just joking but you can answer. (Laughs) Stefan Keller: Oh, now it’s getting interesting! Maybe both of us? Ah, that’s not what you wanted to hear, right? Well, I have to say that there really is a strong balance concerning the quality of riffs. We both have our advantages and disadvantages in riffing. Our musical communication is very great though, and perhaps can be called a symbiosis or something. Musically, we seem to be really dependent on each other. Sometimes our musical communication even works better than verbal communication, which feels strange because I have not experienced that before, but it is only good for the career and quality of the band. So, I am thankful. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Given the many death metal bands to choose from, what sets Neaera apart from the rest and for whoever’s reading the interview that’s possibly never heard of you, why should they purchase a Neaera album versus one by another band? Stefan Keller: As we are not inventing a new style of metal, I’d say that the strength of this band is its attempt to combine a lot of different styles of metal. You’ll find black metal blast beat parts besides hardcore breakdowns, Maiden melodies besides thrash and death metal riffing, growls and screams, speed and groove, beauty and vileness. Our intention is to create a certain diversity, which still shall come up as a whole. If we are succeeding or failing in doing that has to be decided by other people and you can be one of them, if you decide to purchase our record! (Laughs) So don’t miss this rare opportunity. Dawn/TheMetalWeb.com: Stefan thanks for interviewing with me. I’ll tell you why people should buy it because it’s a great album! It’s brutal, yet tastefully done. With that said, do you have any final words for The Metal Web!? Stefan Keller: I want to say thanks to you, Dawn, for having us in the Metal Web, for liking our record and for asking sensible and well thought questions. That is not something common! Believe me; I am struggling my way through interviews for weeks now. Oh, one last thing, chances are there that we will visit you guys on a little tour in October. Nothing’s fixed yet, but we’ll try. Maybe see you there! Over and out. OFFICIAL SITE "NEAERA": http://www.neaera.com HOME |