Since 1998, Cataract have been evolving from a project band into one of Switzerland’s premiere metal outfits and one of Europe’s constant parameters in the modern thrash and metalcore genre.

In 2006, Cataract entered Tue Madsen’s Antfarm Studios to record the follow up to their furious first full length release on Metal Blade and “Kingdom” hit the stores in may 2006 being the band’s most acclaimed release thus far! Blessed with a crushing sound, 11 tracks of the band’s own characteristic style unleash their rage upon the listener; storming, violent, still hardcore infused metal in the vein of Slayer, Bolt Thrower, Hatebreed and the likes. This record made its way into various top ten lists for 2006 and was even voted album of the year by Austria’s Slam Magazine..

In January 2007, the band parted ways with founding member Simon and added Tom Kusmic as their new second guitarist shortly after. .

The story so far... Cataract were formed in summer 1998 by Simon F..llemann, Greg M..der and Ricky D..rst, bringing a fresh, metallic breeze to the European hardcore scene. What started out as a project band quickly progressed into a thunderstorm as the band recorded a demo cd which sold over 2000 copies and introduced them to the hardcore/metal audience. After a 7” ep and some compilation tracks, Cataract recorded their first full length “Golem” in April 2000 which made its way to one of America’s finest indie labels, Ferret Music, who soon added Cataract to their roster and released “Golem”.

Shortly before the recording of the “Martyr’s Melodies” mcd in 2001, a very talented and gifted vocalist named Fedi, switched positions with previous singer Mosh. The band’s first US Tour followed where the band played Hellfest and various shows with Poison The Well, Bane, Unearth, Nora, 18 Visions, Most Precious Blood etc. Most of 2002 was dedicated to working on the second full length album, “The Great Days Of Vengeance”, which was released through LifeForce Recordings in march 2003. Starting off with a sold out record release show the band kept promoting their most metallic release thus far all through the year and finished it off with a two week tour through United Kingdom, supporting UK’s own Stampin' Ground.

Cataracts constant progression caught Metal Blades attention and ultimately had the band signing to the label in 2004. This new cooperation allowed the band to take larger steps, and the first one had them entering the Antfarm Studios of the up and coming producer Tue Madsen. They left with a pounding album, whose power loaden production gave the band their own distinctive style and added the aggression and ferocity they were always looking for. “With Triumph Comes Loss” was released in September 2004 and received raving reviews all over the world and had the band playing the traditional No Mercy Tour in Spring 2005, followed by a multitude of festivals and weekend trips to promote their latest release.

With their 2006 Release “Kingdom” the band has established itself as one of the leading forces in Europe’s metal/hardcore landscape and promoted the album with various live appearances, including a crushing Hell On Earth tour with Heaven Shall Burn, Maroon and God Forbid. Before they took off Kay Brem joined the Band as a new bass player after Michael left to join a less busy band. Cataract had to cancel their participation in the at the time moribund X-Mass Festivals (you might remember it was cancelled after several other bands also quit the billing) and finished the year with a the furious X-Mass Mosh fest in Zug/Switzerland.

The first weeks of 2007 brought some big changes for Cataract – the band agreed to disagree and as a result founding member Simon quit the band to pursue his own goals with a new project. Cataract decided to go on hibernation until the end of march to sort out the band business and force the search for the new guitarist. It wasn’t for long that Tom Kuzmic from Swiss death metallers Disparaged was found as a perfect replacement, adding a lot of new spice to Cataract’s sound and completing the line up after a few weeks.

Cataract 2008...The past time has brought a lot of changes for the band. A new guitar player and a new bass player were added, a whole new album was written and still they were out on Europe’s stages to kick some serious ass. The band’s new formation has added a lot of fresh blood and creativity to the sound and the best prove will be the new album scheduled for march/april 2008. This self titled fifth release is by far their most progressive to date, showing a lot more variety by adding a lot of brutality and speed but also more melody and heaviness.

2008 marks the band’s tenth year of existence, it will also be the year in which Cataract will release their highly anticipated and self titled fifth full length album. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.