Nervecell

Nervecell are a Death metal band based in the United Arab Emirates.The band was founded in 1999 by guitarist Barney Ribeiro, drummer Hatem and vocalist Brogan Costa.

Early Days

As one of the first heavy metal bands in the region, Nervecell made their debut performance at the Battle of the Bands 2001 in the country's capital Abu Dhabi, with the addition of Mazen (guitar) and Carol (bass). Together with their intense performance and stage presence the band won themselves ‘Best Performance’ award and Barney picked up the ‘Best Guitarist’ award.

However, it was in 2002 when Brogan and Carol departed Nervecell to study abroad and Mazen left the band to pursue other projects that things took a turn that would define Nervcell history. Recent vocalist/bassist Rajeh AKA James joined Nervecell in late 2002 after the departure of vocalist Brogan & bassist Carol. James decided to handle both duties and take them to a whole new extreme level. Nervecell also welcomed Rami in 2003 as a full-time lead guitarist. Rami was an old time friend of both James and Barney before joining Nervecell. The band carried on with this line up and were working on new material before they went on to perform. It was not too long again when they had to start a new search for a drummer as Hatem had to leave the country for personal reasons. This led to Nervecell’s greatest problem and left them with no choice but to leave the kit for session drummers as Mark Deeb (ex – Threshold of Pain) and then with Alan Madhavan drummer of Nephelium.

Vastlands of Abomination

Towards the end of the year 2003 the three-piece had set some serious goals ahead of them. Being convinced that this was the steadiest lineup in the band’s history, they decided to release of a 2-track demo entitled 'Vastlands Of Abomination'. It was at this point where Nervecell decided to set no limits in their sound of letting the classic death metal of the early 90’s flow together with their hardcore groove. The demo acquired Nervecell a dedicated following from the underground circles in and around the Middle East with the help of performing continuous shows all over the country.

Human Chaos

In the summer of 2004 the band hit the studio to record their debut EP ‘Human Chaos’, following the success of the first demo. This much anticipated CD included 5 songs with re-recorded versions of the first demo and 3 other tracks that are considered as Nervecell’s old school classics! The release grabbed a lot of attention from both the underground scene and the media in Dubai locally and the masses from around the globe. Being aired on local station Radio One’s weekly metal show Heavy Metal Thunder and various international radio stations as UK’S Total Rock and Germany’s The Metal Observer Radio, ranking their Top 20. ‘Human Chaos’ also received many positive reviews from many webzines & magazines in Germany, Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Morocco, USA, Czech Republic and Britain’s metal bible Metal Hammer. At that point in time Nervecell’s name reached the other side of the globe where they signed a distribution deal for ‘Human Chaos’ with Mexican label Atolinga Records.

Desert rock 2005

The success of ‘Human Chaos’ led to the opportunity for Nervecell to open for the annual Dubai Desert Rock Festival in 2005. This was an epic moment for Nervecell as their passion, dedication and efforts were all made worth when they were asked to play alongside the legendary Sepultura and the mighty Machine Head. The festival also gave them the chance to play alongside metal icons Saxon, goth rockers Within Temptation and glam metal act The Darkness. It was confirmed at this festival that Nervecell were Dubai’s metal representatives and continued to influence and inspire the many in and around the Middle East. Shortly after this drummer Alan was replaced by Gavin Ward who would handle Nervecell's brutal drumming with ease and bring a new charisma to the band to aid them in their progression.

Road Rage tour

With the Professional level performance at Desert rock, Nervecell earned themselves a smal tour in March/April '07 in Australia where the band would travel through cities such as Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Wollongong and then go on to headline the Metalstock Open Air Festival in Cranberry. They were received with arms wide open and have become a commercial success 'down under'. Now with the experience of a full tour under their belts the band are at new levels of professionalism and ready to make a name for themselves in the metal scene worldwide.

They are set to play this years festival alongside Korn, Machine Head, Velvet Revolver and Muse. Playing drums for them will be Louis Rando aka Disaster from Australia's brutal black metal band The Furor.

Recent Events

Nervecell are currently adding the final touches to their new album entitled ‘Preaching Venom’. According to their MySpace page, the album is likely to be released in early 2008. Writing and recording new material has been delayed due to a busy summer of festival appearances. The band have recently performed shows in Egypt ( Egypt metal Fest 2007) and Australia (Road Rage tour & Metalstock Festival 2007). They also made a well-received European appearance on 20th July at Metalcamp Festival in Slovenia.

Some of the confirmed song titles on the new album are: ‘Beyond Our Sins’, ‘Vicious Circle Of Bloodshed’, ‘Demean’ & ‘Flesh And Memories’. The complete track list will be revealed soon.

Nervecell was one of the opening bands on day 1 of Dubai Desert Rock Festival 2008 alongside Korn, As I Lay Dying, Killswitch Engage, Machine Head, Slapshock.

Preaching Venom was released on 1 May, 2008, and sales went quite well, with the album claiming the number 20 spot on Virgin's album sales. Reviews from notable European metal magazines have been positive, some even claiming that they were literally 'blown away by an extraordinary piece of music'.

Discography

External links

* [www.nervecell.net Official Site]

* [www.phride.com]

* [www.myspace.com/nervecell Nervecell's Myspace page]