Superior was a German

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad :Fusion music genres, fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven s ...

band, founded in 1992, and disbanded in 2007. Their style was described as something very similar to

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...

, but there were also many big differences between them.SUPERIOR music, discography, MP3, videos and reviews
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Lineup

*Michael Tangermann –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

*Bernd Basmer –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

*Michael Müller –

*Martin Reichhart –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

*Jan-Marco Becker –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

*Thomas Mayer –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

History

Eight months after 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 Behind may refer to: * ''Behind'' (album), a 1992 album by Superior * Behind (Australian rules football), a method of scoring in Australian rules football, awarding one point * "Behind" (song), a 2008 single by Flanders * Behind, a slang term fo ...

''. Until the middle of 1994 the band toured mainly in southwestern Germany, until they began recording their first CD. It took them a year to work on the compositions, arrangement and the concept of their debut album, ''

''. The album was recorded in 1995 in the Roko Soundstudios. ''Behind'' can be described as a

album, with very heavy and aggressive sounds, including driving

s, complex piano and string arrangements. When the album was completed the band signed a contract with

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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 Noise Records is a German heavy metal record label founded in 1983 by German music industry personality Karl-Ulrich Walterbach as an expansion of his company Modern Music Records. It was sold to the Sanctuary Records Group in 2001 and ceased any ...

. Shortly after signing with Noise Records, Superior toured Germany with

Virgin Steele Virgin Steele is an American heavy metal band from New York, originally formed in 1981. The band released a few career highlights albums (''Noble Savage'', ''The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part I'', ''The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part II'' ...

and Angra. After the fourth show, keyboardist Jan-Marco Becker hurt his hand severely and had to be operated on during the tour. Angra's frontman

Andre Matos Andre Coelho Matos (14 September 1971 – 8 June 2019) was a Brazilian singer and musician. He was involved in the heavy metal bands Viper, Angra, Shaman and Symfonia. Since 2006, Matos had been dedicating his time to his solo career. In 201 ...

offered them to rehearse some of the keyboard parts and Superior was able to continue touring. After the tour Superior was forced to take a break, waiting on their keyboardist to recover. In the middle of 1997, when their keyboardist had recovered, Superior began touring again, starting with a short tour through France, where they also played some unplugged sessions. They performed 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 Superior recorded, mixed and mastered their second album, ''

Younique Younique is an American multi-level marketing company (MLM) that markets beauty products. The company was founded in 2012 by Derek Maxfield, who serves as CEO, and Melanie Huscroft, and is headquartered in Lehi, Utah. Between 2017 and 2019, Youni ...

'', which was released in August 1998. This album can identify heavy

riffing, diverse

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

arrangements and sounds, very complex and individual instrumentation,

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...

-sounds, brass arrangements and

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

solos. Many magazines worldwide celebrated ''Younique'' as a milestone in progressive music. After the album's release, the band didn't much; they did perform with Angra and

Stratovarius Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1985. Since their formation, they have released sixteen studio albums, five DVDs and six live albums. In its history, the band has gone through many chaotic lineup changes, and after fo ...

. 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 Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

. The recordings for their next album at the Roko Soundstudios took the following six months. ''

Ultima Ratio References

Additional references * * * {{Latin phrases Lists of Latin phrases, U ...

'' is less experimental than ''

'', 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 A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

style. The arrangements in this albums are clearly structured, and the dominating characteristics are the heavy guitars,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

playing combined with

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vocals. A Fourth album was reported on their Myspace page during 2007, to have been completed. When asked why the album had not seen release the band responded that 'not enough money to finance distribution' was the key issue. No further mention of the recordings followed. The band split up at the end of 2007 due to the pressure of touring, recording, and supporting families.

Discography

Source: *''Behind'' (1996) *''Younique'' (1998) *''Ultima Ratio'' (2002) *''Ultra – Live'' (2005)

References

External links

Superior's Unofficial MySpace page

Superior at ProgArchives.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Superior German progressive metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1992 Musical groups disestablished in 2007