Believer - Autographed Transhuman CD
Designed and Crafted by: Believer
Autographed "Transhuman" CD.
Track Listing:
1. Lie Awake
2. G.U.T
3. Multiverse
4. End of Infinity
5. Transfection
6. Clean Room
7. Currents
8. Traveler
9. Ego Machine
10. Being No One
11. Entanglement
12. Mindsteps
Progressive metallers BELIEVER are back with their 5th full length album titled Transhuman, released via Metal Blade Records on April 12, 2011. Mixed by Kevin Gutierrez at Assembly Line Studios, mastered by Maor Appelbaum and produced by Trauma Team Productions, Transhuman was inspired by ideas and concepts related to Transhumanist thought. The World Transhumanist Association (WTA) provides two definitions for Transhumanism:
1. The intellectual and cultural movement that affirms the possibility and desirability of fundamentally improving the human condition through applied reason, especially by developing and making widely available technologies to eliminate aging and to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities.
2. The study of the ramifications, promises, and potential dangers of technologies that will enable us to overcome fundamental human limitations, and the related study of the ethical matters involved in developing and using such technologies.
In terms of the albums concept and lyrical content, the overall theme of the album was inspired by these Transhumanist philosophies. "In general, we explored lyrical themes relating to what it means to be human especially what it means to be human in the age of technology. We also received inspiration from Dr. Ginger Campbells Brain Science Podcast (http://www.brainsciencepodcast.com/), which explores recent discoveries in neuroscience. Several songs were inspired by Dr. Thomas Metzingers scientific research and philosophical study of consciousness and the self", comments the band.
Musically, the band experimented with the integration of more melody and dynamics into the BELIEVER sound. They also incorporated melodic vocals and layered vocal harmonies. The band elaborates; after decades of experience, we are still very interested in growing as musicians, songwriters and producers. With Transhuman, our focus was on songwriting rather than just showcasing speed and technicality. BELIEVER fans expect the band to forge new paths with each album. Transhuman does just that and shows one of technical metals pioneering and genre-defining bands at its creative peak.
Body painting, design and layout by Michael Rosner of Eye Level Studio.
About Believer
BELIEVER has gained worldwide recognition for their boundary-breaking,
artistic form of extreme metal. Joined by bands Cynic and Pestilence,
Roadrunner Records pushed a prog-metal/thrash campaign with the three
bands called, “The Breed Beyond” and solidified BELIEVER among the ranks
of unique, creative musical acts. The centerpiece of their 3rd release,
Dimensions, was a metal opera that brought them great praise from fans
and musicians worldwide and threw open the doors to collaborations
between metal and orchestral musicians and sealed the band’s legacy.
Formed in the mid eighties by guitarist/vocalist Kurt Bachman and drummer Joey Daub, the Pennsylvania based Believer was destined to put their mark on the music scene. With the early line- up of Bachman, Daub, guitarist Dave Baddorf and bassist Howe Kraft, BELIEVER secured a deal with East Coast indie label R.E.X. Music. The band’s debut album, Extraction from Mortality, was greeted with vast acceptance in the metal world and also drew attention from Roadrunner Records. The band’s second offering, Sanity Obscure, released by Roadrunner saw the band breaking new musical boundaries and establishing themselves as creative and experimental musicians in the metal community. With a new label and bassist, Wyatt Robertson replacing Kraft, BELIEVER set out in support of Sanity with a European tour and an extended tour of the States with fellow thrashers Sacrifice and Bolt Thrower. Upon completion of the tour, Bachman and Daub parted ways with Baddorf and Robertson. With a new musical vision for their 3rd record, they again called upon friend and violinist Scott Laird, and his opera-trained sister, Julianne Laird, who both made brief appearances on previous BELIEVER releases. Fellow musician and friend Jim Winters and cellist Glenn Fischbach rounded out the band and 1993’s Dimensions was the end result of this collaboration.
After a long hiatus, BELIEVER returned to the metal scene with an intense fury and the band’s first record in 16 years, Gabriel, once again saw BELIEVER conquering new musical and artistic territory. With an upgraded sound and songwriting that has been alluded to as a “sick, insane cross between Tool, Voivod, NIN, and Destruction”, BELIEVER’s 4th release Gabriel showed a band simply not focused on regurgitating and reliving their past. To this end, Bachman and Daub surrounded themselves with new creative blood in keyboardist/programmer Jeff King, guitarist Kevin Leaman, and bassist/programmer Elton Nestler. Securing a new home with legendary Metal Blade Records, BELIEVER was determined to win over fans of old and new with their brand of ‘BELIEVER-esque’ metal.
Enter 2011; BELIEVER and bassist/programmer Elton Nestler parted ways
and the band entered the studio to record their follow up to 2009’s
Gabriel, which was highly praised by critics and fans alike. Terrorizer
Magazine claimed “Gabriel is immensely heavy, deceptively melodic,
ambitiously daring, and brilliantly played…” while Outburn Magazine
called the album “thinking man’s thrash…far more welcomed than virtually
any bunch of new-school wankers.” HM Magazine declared “Metal isn’t
supposed to sound this good…this is unmistakably BELIEVER, and
unmistakably a great album. Welcome back!” with Metal Sucks.net
referring to the album as having “technical brilliance and progressive
depth.” The accolades didn’t stop there though… Revolver Magazine
asserted that ” BELIEVER’s adventurous breaks with past doctrine make
this comeback soar” while Decibel Magazine added “…it’s almost as if
they picked up right where they left off with their 1993 opus complexus,
Dimensions… equal amounts sonic combustion and intellectual
exploration” to the list of respects given to the stellar release.
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