Caliban are a German

metalcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...

band from

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

. To date, they have released thirteen

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

s and two EPs, along with two

split album A split album (or split) is a music album that includes tracks by two or more separate artists. There are also singles and EPs of the same variety, which are often called "split singles" and "split EPs" respectively. Split albums differ from "v ...

s with

Heaven Shall Burn Heaven Shall Burn is a German extreme metal band from Saalfeld, formed in 1995. The band consists of vocalist Marcus Bischoff, guitarists Maik Weichert and Alexander Dietz, bassist Eric Bischoff and drummer Christian Bass. They are currently sig ...

History

Caliban was formed in

, Germany in 1997 as Never Again. In the beginning, the band consisted of vocalists Andreas Dörner and Marc Ulfig, guitarists Björn Kaiser and Marc Görtz, bassist Engin Güres and drummer Kai Kogelheide.Never Again
/ref> With this lineup, a self-titled demo was recorded. After six months of playing together and several member changes – Ulfig, Kaiser and Kogelheide left, the latter were replaced by Claus Wilgenbusch and Robert Krämer – the band recorded two songs for a demo, which was never released. The songs were sent to several record labels, and

Lifeforce Records Lifeforce Records is a German heavy metal independent record label that specializes in metalcore and death metal. Their roster contains bands such as Confession, This or the Apocalypse, Omnium Gatherum and Last Leaf Down, and they have helped ...

was the first to offer the band – by then called Caliban – a record deal. Caliban's first self-titled EP came out in the summer of 1998. To promote it, the band played many shows all over Europe and a few support shows for bands including

Morning Again Morning Again is an American metalcore band from Florida. They were known for their metallic sound as well as for their straight edge, vegan, anti-religious and anti-government ideals. The band was a "sister band" to Culture, often switching mem ...

Earth Crisis Earth Crisis is an American metallic hardcore band from Syracuse, New York, active from 1989 until 2001, reuniting in 2007. Since 1993, the band's longest-tenured members include vocalist Karl Buechner, lead guitarist Scott Crouse, bassist Ia ...

and

Cro-Mags The Cro-Mags are an American hardcore punk band from New York City. The band, which has garnered a strong cult following, has released six studio albums, with the first two considered the most influential. With a Hare Krishna background, they ...

. After their European tour in 1999, Caliban entered the studio to record their first full-length entitled '' A Small Boy and a Grey Heaven''. The CD received favorable reviews in many big magazines and many smaller

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

and

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

zine A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is, as noted on Merriam-Webster’s official website, a magazine that is a “noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject ...

s. They also released the first part of a split-CD with

, named ''

The Split Program ''The Split Program'' is a split album by German metalcore bands Caliban and Heaven Shall Burn, released on 18 August 2000. "Partisan" is performed by Caliban on the album, but is originally a Heaven Shall Burn composition, while "One More Lie" ...

''. ''

Vent Vent or vents may refer to: Science and technology Biology *Vent, the cloaca region of an animal *Vent DNA polymerase, a thermostable DNA polymerase Geology *Hydrothermal vent, a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water ...

'' came out in April 2001. ''Vent'' was released by Imperium Records and by Howling-Bull Records in Japan. Shortly after the release, Caliban was offered the opportunity to tour Japan to play the Beast-Feast 2001 in the

Yokohama Arena is an indoor arena located in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 17,000 and was opened in 1989. The arena was modeled after US sports venue Madison Square Garden in New York City. It is a five-minute walk from the ...

, sharing stage with bands including

Slayer Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them ...

Pantera Pantera () is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981 by the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul), and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, an ...

Machine Head A machine head (also referred to as a tuning machine, tuner, or gear head) is a geared apparatus for tuning stringed musical instruments by adjusting string tension. Machine heads are used on mandolins, guitars, double basses, and others, and ...

Biohazard A biological hazard, or biohazard, is a biological substance that poses a threat (or is a hazard) to the health of living organisms, primarily humans. This could include a sample of a microorganism, virus or toxin that can adversely affect huma ...

and

Morbid Angel Morbid Angel is an American death metal band based in Tampa, Florida, formed in 1983 by guitarist, primary composer and sole remaining original member Trey Azagthoth, vocalist and bassist Dallas Ward, and drummer Mike Browning. Widely considere ...

. The Japan trip was followed by a U.S. tour with Bloodjinn, which was interrupted by the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. In August 2002, Caliban recorded their third official release ''

Shadow Hearts ''Shadow Hearts'' is a series of role-playing video games, consisting of a trilogy of titles for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) and their predecessor '' Koudelka'' for the PlayStation. The entire series was developed by Sacnoth (later Nautilus); ''Koude ...

''. This record was more melodic and harmonic than its predecessors. In 2004 the band got a record deal with

Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records is a Dutch–American record label focused on Heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock music. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. Formerly seen as ...

in Europe (

Abacus Recordings Century Media Records is a German heavy metal record label with offices in Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by R ...

in the US) and started to record their fourth album, '' The Opposite from Within'', alongside producer

Anders Fridén Pär Anders Fridén (born 25 March 1973) is a Swedish vocalist, best known as the lead singer of the melodic death metal band In Flames. He was also the vocalist of Dark Tranquillity and side project Passenger. Career Early career Fridén was ...

, who is known for fronting

In Flames In Flames is a Swedish Heavy metal music, heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990 out of the Swedish death metal, Swedish death metal scene. Their lineup has changed several times, with vocalist Anders Frid ...

. In July 2005, the band released the second part of their split-CD with their friends from

, called ''The Split Program II''. The band released their fifth album called '' The Undying Darkness'' in February 2006 and toured with

All Shall Perish All Shall Perish is an American deathcore band from Oakland, California, formed in 2002. The band was signed to Nuclear Blast and have released four full-length albums through the label. Their latest album, ''This Is Where It Ends,'' was release ...

Bleeding Through Bleeding Through is an American metalcore band from Orange County, California, formed in 1999. Influenced largely by hardcore punk and Swedish melodic death metal, the band was established by lead vocalist Brandan Schieppati as a personal projec ...

and

I Killed the Prom Queen I Killed the Prom Queen is an Australian metalcore band from Adelaide, formed in 2001. They were prominent in the Australian live music scene and toured the US, Japan and Europe several times. They issued three studio albums: '' When Goodbye Me ...

for the "Darkness over Europe" tour. In 2007, Caliban recorded their album ''

The Awakening The Awakening may refer to: Religion * Awakening (Finnish religious movement), a Lutheran movement in Finland * Great Awakening, several periods of Anglo-American Christian revival Film and television Film * ''The Awakening'', a 1913 film starring ...

'' with producer Benny Richter and it was released in Germany on 25 May. The album reached 36 in the German charts. In 2009, the band toured with German band

Kreator Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current line-up consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mille Petrozza, Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen Reil, Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli- ...

on the "Chaos Over Europe Tour". They also signed a worldwide contract with

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a German heavy metal record label with offices in Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by R ...

. They released their new album, '' Say Hello to Tragedy'', on 25 August 2009. This album - just like ''

'' - reached 36th place on the German media charts. In October and November they toured Europe on the "Beastfest European Tour 2009" with

Suicide Silence Suicide Silence is an American deathcore band from Riverside, California, Riverside, California. The band was established in 2002, and has released seven studio albums, three EPs, and nineteen music videos. They were awarded the ''Revolver (ma ...

, German friend-band

Maroon Maroon ( , ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word , meaning chestnut. ''Marron'' is also one of the French translations for "brown". Terms describing interchangeable shades, with overlapping RGB ranges, inc ...

and American acts

Emmure Emmure () is an American metalcore band formed in 2003. Originally based in New Fairfield, Connecticut, before moving to Queens, New York, the group has released eight albums, with their first public release being a 2006 EP entitled '' The Co ...

and

After the Burial After the Burial is an American progressive metal band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. They are currently signed to Sumerian Records and have released five of their six full-length albums through the label. Since their inception in 2004, the band h ...

. Caliban entered the studio in February and recorded a cover EP titled ''Coverfield'', released in May 2011. The album consists of 4 songs, although more songs were recorded and may be released later. In mid August, the band entered the studio to finish writing and recording a new full-length album to be released in early 2012. At the beginning of September the band posted a message on their official site, saying that the songwriting is complete and that 12 songs were made. The new album titled '' I Am Nemesis'' was released on 3 February. Stormbringer Magazin of Germany Caliban is writing and recording a new full-length album for January 2014. The band released '' Ghost Empire'' on 24 January 2014 via

. In February 2014, Caliban entered the German Media Control Charts at #7 for this album. In the beginning of 2015 they toured with

Bury Tomorrow Bury Tomorrow are a British metalcore band formed in 2006 in Southampton, Hampshire, England, Hampshire, England. The band is composed of six members; lead vocalist Daniel Winter-Bates, bassist Davyd Winter-Bates, drummer Adam Jackson, lead gui ...

Dream On, Dreamer Dream On, Dreamer is an Australian four-piece alternative metalcore band from Melbourne, Victoria, formed in 2009. The band released two EPs and five albums. The first EP, ''Set Sail, Armada'', was released on 3 July 2009. Almost a year later ...

and Any Given Day. Caliban then released the album, ''Gravity'', in the spring of 2016, and via social media teased an upcoming project in 2017. On 6 April 2018, Caliban released their eleventh album, ''Elements''. Three years after their previous album, Caliban release a new album titled ''Zeitgeister'' on May 14, 2021. This release reunites some old tracks now sung and re-recorded in German language. Additionally, ''Zeitgeister'' includes one previously unreleased song, "nICHts". The next year on April 22, the band released their 13th full-length album, titled ''Dystopia''.

Band members

Caliban Rockharz 2019 27.jpg, Andreas Dörner Caliban Rockharz 2019 43.jpg, Marc Görtz Caliban Rockharz 2019 08.jpg, Denis Schmidt Caliban Rockharz 2019 20.jpg, Marco Schaller Caliban Rockharz 2019 44.jpg, Patrick Grün Current members * Andreas Dörner – lead vocals * Marc Görtz – lead guitar * Denis Schmidt – rhythm guitar , clean vocals * Patrick Grün – drums * Kenneth Iain Duncan – bass, clean vocals Former members * Marc Ulfig – vocals * Björn Kaiser – rhythm guitar * Kai Kogelheide – drums * Engin Güres – bass * Claus Wilgenbusch – rhythm guitar * Robert Krämer – drums * Thomas Sielemann – rhythm guitar * Andreas Nikolaou – rhythm guitar * Boris Pracht – bass * Marco Schaller – bass, backing vocals Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Split albums

Music videos

References

External links

*
Caliban
at

MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

Caliban
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caliban 1997 establishments in Germany Century Media Records artists German metalcore musical groups German musical quintets Musical groups established in 1997 Roadrunner Records artists Abacus Recordings artists Howling Bull Entertainment artists