Todays' Heavy Metal is nothing more than a gathering of carnival barkers. Who's the fastest, who's the meanest, who's the toughest, who's got the biggest? Yet we all know: It's not size that matters. It's technique. Enter CREDIC.
A troupe of frighteningly talented dudes from Stuttgart not to be pestered with petty clichés. Instead, they focus on what it should be all about: Dangerously absorbing music. Why did the world ever stop to do so? Still, in their early days, a very peculiar question was not an easy one to answer: What the heck should they play? Before finally arriving at their trademark sound of biting, epic and impertinently catchy Melodic Death Metal, they had to ban their rather peculiar musical upbringing from their equally peculiar mindset. When everything from Uriah Heep to Massive Attack may seem plausible, it's maybe not the worst idea to agree on some common ground: Metallica, Dark Tranquillity, In Flames. A word in private: This could have turned out a lot worse! From these foundations, a new power of Melodic Death Metal is about to rise, a band rather atypical for a region especially famous for Hip-Hip or Noise Rock.
Their new album "Agora" unites the monumental cold of Swedish Death Metal with archetypical Heavy Metal riffing, huge grooves and orchestral grandezza, despite all the heaviness finely balancing on the tightrope between musicianship and ear candy. Where they want to go with it? "Wacken or Hellfest would make for a good start", guitar player Oliver Ecke grins. It's never easy to unite five different characters under the same flag. "If it comes to the crunch, we usually sit down and have some cake together", bass player Martin Stump grants a rare insight into the complicated partnership that is a Metal band. Their biggest trump card: However heated a discussion may be ' sooner or later they all agree on Metallica being the best band on the planet, open up another beer or soda and simply play on. The songs on "Agora" illustrate best why this is a brilliant approach: For a band that in its current incarnation has only been playing together for two years, they reside on an impressive level and bring everything to the table one would like to hear on a contemporary Metal record: brand recognition, rough edges, abnormally huge riffs, even bigger choruses and, with Stefan Scheu, a front man with attitude sounding like Mikael Stannes angry little brother. As serious as they take their music, though, they treat themselves with a certain grain of salt.
"This band is a compensation of our daily routine", guitarist Andreas Steinle points out. "It's a mental holiday." That's the only reason they play, really. Of course, they wouldn't mind the big stages (and, as a matter of fact, would cut a good figure there even now); however, it's not their main driving force. "We want to enthuse others", Steinle adds. Sure thing: That's what drove guys like Hetfield or Hammett in the early eighties, that's what made some Swedish longhairs scream on top of their lungs alongside divine melodies. That's where Credic are at right now: A band of five brothers more interested in companionship than in fast success.
"We're not only a band. We're friends", Scheu states. It's nice to realize there are still bands out there doing it for the sake of being in a band! And now, this band is about to deliver a bold dose of finest Melodic Death Metal. Perfected by sound guru Eike Freese (Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Apocalyptica), this album is a massive attack on all our senses. Fuelled by society's conflicts or by inner demons, songs like "Alternate Ending" or "The Masquerade" unleash a constant stream of energy a lot of bands desperately try to achieve. And even without heralding a new revolution or the next reformation of Heavy Metal, it's still more than crystal clear for any lover of modern Metal that something big is about to happen here. And "Agora" is only the first move on the board.
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