Neaera ‘Nearea’
Album Review By Adam McCann
Metal Blade Records/Melodic Death Metal/Metalcore/Deathcore
Neaera are one of Germany’s most beloved melodic death metal bands, yet in 2015, the band shocked the metal world by announcing their split. However, just less than three years later, Neaera returned after a significant demand and yet it has taken until now for the German melodic death metallers to release their eponymous seventh studio album.
When it boils down to it, ‘Neaera’ has been worth the wait and anyone who was disappointed with 2013’s ‘Ours Is The Storm’ will be reinvigorated with this latest album with ‘Neaera’ harking back to a sound that touches upon ‘Armamentarium’. This means that this album has all the appeal of bands such as Heaven Shall Burn and modern In Flames with its metalcore overtones, but there are still sounds deep rooted within melodic death metal with a tremolo picking that has all the love of Amon Amarth or even Bolt Thrower and The Black Dahlia Murder that are juxtaposed with typical deathcore brutal style one-note breakdowns that would make fans of this genre wet with excitement. This is reinforced through the superb vocals of Benjamin Hilleke who really shows how versatile and dynamic his voice can be from low deathcore growls that are traded off against higher growls that give ‘Neaera’ a hugely appealing vibe with tracks such as ‘Carriers’, ‘Rid the Earth of the Human Virus’ and ‘Torchbearer’ standing tall.
With this self-titled album, Neaera are back and they have blown away any doubters that they couldn’t replicate what many consider to be their golden period. There is a fire burning here that may be difficult to extinguish and that’s what makes ‘Neaera’ sound so damned good; not only should fans of Neaera go out and get this album, but fans of melodic death metal, metalcore and deathcore will be pleasantly surprised.
Rating : 80/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
