Superior (band)

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Superior
Superior lineup
Origin	Kaiserslautern
Country	Germany
Years active	1988 – Present
Genres	Progressive metal
Labels	Noise Records Rising Sun
Members	Michael Tangermann Bernd Basmer Michael Müller Martin Reichhart Thomas Meyer Jan

Superior is a German progressive metal band, founded in 1992. Their style is described something very similar to Dream Theater, but there are also many big differences between them ^[1].

1 Lineup
2 History
3 Discography
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Lineup

Michael Tangermann - vocals
Bernd Basmer - guitar
Michael Müller - guitar
Martin Reichhart - bass guitar
Jan - Keyboards
Thomas Mayer - Drums

[edit] History

After the Superior was founded, they released their demo Timeshift. This demo contained an early version of the song "Tomorrow's Eve", which was to be included on their first album Behind. Until the middle of 1994 the band toured mainly in southwestern Germany and the more they toured the more they were convinced that it was the time for them to release their first self-produced CD. It took them a year to work on the compositions, arrangement and the concept of their debut album, called Behind. The album was recorded in 1995 in the Roko Soundstudios. Behind can be described as a progressive metal album, with very heavy and aggressive sounds, including driving guitars, complex piano and string arrangements.

When the album was completed the band signed a contract with Hamburg label L.M.P., which got in touch with various record companies. In the fall of 1996 Superior signed a contract with Modern Music/Noise Records, which has the rights for the entire world (excluding France). Shortly after signing with Noise Records, Superior toured Germany with Virgin Steele and Angra in such well-known venues as Hamburger Markthalle, Zeche Bochum and various others. But, unfortunately, after the fifth show, keyboardist Jan-Marco Becker hurt his hand severely and even had to be operated on during the tour. Angra's frontman Andre Matos offered them to rehearse some of the keyboard parts and Superior was able to continue touring, even though somewhat handicapped. After the tour Superior was forced to take a break, waiting on their keyboardist to recover. They couldn't join several tours offered to them by their record company and just didn't have the chance to promote their newly released album properly.

In the middle of 1997, when their keyboardist had recovered, they began touring again, starting with a short tour through France, where they also did some unplugged sessions. They did several shows in Germany, while already working on the material for their new album.

From the middle of March through the middle of May 1998 they recorded, mixed and mastered Younique, once again in the Roko Soundstudios. This album can identify heavy guitar riffing, diverse keyboard arrangements and sounds, very complex and individual instrumentation, acoustic guitars, sitar-sounds, brass arrangements and saxaphone solos. Many important magazines worldwide celebrated “Younique” as a milestone in progressive music. After the album's release, the band started touring in Germany, France, Netherlands and Belgium. The concert that was held at the Parisian "Zenith" with Angra and Stratovarius and their liveshow at Progpower festival in the Netherlands was celebrated by 5,000 fans.

Superior and their French label NTS Records decided to cooperate for a further album, which turned out to be a concept album, about religious fanaticism with all its consequences down to terrorism. At the time, the band didn't know how close they would come to truth (in September 11, 2001 terrorists attacked the World Trade Center). The recordings for their next album at the Roko Soundstudios took the following six months. Ultima Ratio is visibly less experimental than Younique, because Superior and Noise Records agreed that the style of the band's music just didn't match together with the company's politics and their strict adherence to true metal style. The arrangements in this albums are clearly structured, and the dominating characteristics are the extremely heavy guitars, beautiful piano playing combined with the great melodies coming from Michael's powerful and emotional voice.

The biggest goal of the band was to bring a soundtrack to reality, to create a movie for the ears by composing and arranging a concept album transformable into a cinematographic thriller. Ultima Ratio is the exposure of crime, complex images, agitation and suppression as cloaked by welfare and graze.