Maroon European Fanspace

About me:

Taking hardcore ethics to a whole new level, Germany's MAROON are quickly outplaying and outlasting their contemporaries around the globe. Formed in early 1998, the vegan, straightedge five-piece is clearly showing their dedication and no signs of slowing down.

After an early MCD and a split EP with Self Conquest, the band released their major introduction to the music world in the form of their first full-length, "Antagonist", which was out on Alveran Records in Europe and Catalyst Records in America. The band then headlined a European tour and even ventured over to South American and Japan in 2003 in support of the record.
It's those initial years of hard work that have caused the band's reputation to spread all over the world, earning them slots at major festivals like With Full Force, Pressure Fest and more, in addition to high profile shows alongside acts such as Hatebreed, Agnostic Front, Earth Crisis, Heaven Shall Burn and Sepultura.

The band's sophomore album, 2004"s "Endorsed By Hate", was a fantastic example of passion and anger. After it"s release the Nordhausen five-piece relentlessly played Europe"s festivals as well as toured with Cataract in late 2004 and Downset in early 2005. They didn"t even take much of a break and kept playing shows and festivals such as Pressure, Fury, With Full Force, Dour, Groezrock or Summerbreeze Festival during the summer of 2005 while writing their new masterpiece "When Worlds Collide".

In late October 2005 they finally took off to Denmark to record the new album with Jacob Hansen in his Hansen Studios (Mercenary, Fear My Thoughts). During the recording process their labelmates Mercenary popped in to add some back-up vocals and keyboards while some of Roger Miret"s (Agnostic Front) unique shouting was captured spontaneously during the Persistance Tour. Right after the mix of "When Worlds Collide" MAROON set out for a full European tour supporting death metal legends Obituary and Switzerland"s dark visionaries Samael. Without a single doubt the album showcases some surprising moments when the melodic vocals of Mercenary"s Mikkel Sandager kick into the heavy, riff-driven "Annular Eclipse" or when MAROON close their album with the ultra-brutal and blasting "Below Existence". No matter how much they gravitated towards some of the heaviest metal rage MAROON still kept their political awareness and involvement in an alternative life-style - "This is the fight for the voiceless minority.." (24 HourHate). Welcome Annihilation... Hardly any German metal band has been as active as Nordhausen’s powerhouse MAROON. Before their last, highly acclaimed album “When Worlds Collide” was released in March 2006 they toured with Strapping Young Lad and Arch Enemy, went to the UK with Black Dahlia Murder and were part of the 2nd Hell On Earth Tour.

In 2007 not only did they play high profile festivals such as Rock Hard, With Full Force, Wacken and Summer Breeze, but also supported Korn on their European Tour. Still, they did not take a break, but wrote and recorded their fourth full length album, “The Cold Heart Of The Sun”. ”One of our goals was not to repeat ourselves“, states vocalist Andre Moraweck. “With “When Worlds Collide” we already took the right route that we explored a little further with “The Cold Heart of The Sun” and included some more diverse influences.” Instead of recording the full album with Jacob Hansen in his Hansen Studios MAROON recorded the album partly at Rape Of Harmonies Studios with Alexander Dietz (guitars and co-producer for labelmates Heaven Shall Burn, also producer for bands such as Neaera, Narziss or Misery Speaks), but still mixed it with their friend Hansen. However, don’t mistake recording close to home with a more relaxing session, quite the opposite: It took the brutality of singer Andre Moraweck’s voice to the next level. For the artwork MAROON went back to a long-time, close friend of the band: Their former guitarist Marc Zech, who previously did art for the band before like their “Endorsed By Hate” full length, also took care of the visuals for “The Cold Heart Of The Sun”.

Make sure to grab a copy of the album in its strictly limited edition that comes in a Digipak and is including a bonus-DVD featuring a “making of The Cold Heart Of The Sun” and some fine examples of MAROON’s intense live-performances. Right before the release of their new masterpiece MAROON has been crushed stages with As I Lay Dying, Darkest Hour and labelmates Himsa on what became THE TOUR of the 2nd part of 2007 for fans of modern metal....steelbath your heart!

Taken from www.maroonhate.com