Band: Spear
From: Weert, Netherlands
Their formation story:
(Marijn MIller, guitar): "Spear formed in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, in the summer of 2023, after I had already written some material on my own. Initially, I was trying to start a straight edge band. However, this proved to be difficult. Everyone I knew who was edge either lived too far away or was already playing in their own projects.
"I am glad that I broadened my horizons, though, because after I let go of the straight edge band idea, I quickly found great people to work with. Jochem, Ruben, Dalton and Coen were all as eager to get going as I was. We booked a rehearsal space and I sent them the songs I wrote. We played our debut show in February 2024, and as the cliche goes, the rest is history."
Their sound in their own words:
"(Straight edge) hardcore from the late '90s and early '00s, as well as more recent bands with a similar sound, are a huge influence on us. I've loved bands like Strife for a long time.
"Current bands like Magnitude, Envision, One Step Closer, Burning Strong, and Wreckage also really gave my songwriting a kickstart. You can probably hear influences from all of those bands in our music. Basically, our music is fast, melodic hardcore with metallic elements and breakdowns."
Latest release info:
"Our demo was actually quite a long time coming. We worked on it (in total) for months, and the mixing process even had a full reset at some point. We wanted every element of the demo to be as high quality as it could possibly be, and in the end we are ecstatic about the result and the response we've gotten so far.
"I am also going to claim this opportunity to thank Apostolis of World's Appreciated Kitsch. He runs a one-man operation that books shows and helps bands around the Netherlands and the rest of Europe as well. Apostolis has had our back from day one and he is actually helping us with a physical release of our demo on tape, which is so sick. Much love to him!
"The three songs on there are a good reflection of our current material. We tend to write mostly introspective music, about topics such as our mental wellbeing, philosophical questions and our place in the world and the universe. For example, 'Unify' and 'I Refuse' are both songs about how you can sometimes seem to be fighting another half of yourself that you cannot seem to ever put to rest. 'The Traces We Leave' is quite a literal title, as the song is about how we might be remembered after death, and what mortality means to everyday individuals."
Future plans:
"Shows, shows, shows! We just want to get out there and play. Not just the Netherlands, but the rest of Europe as well, if we'd have our way. We're also busy writing new tracks and want to record an EP in the (near?) future. Who knows, for all of us, SPEAR is something we do besides jobs and life, so we have to take things as they come.
"However, we want to make the most of our time as a band. Being on a stage and sharing my energy and passion was the reason I started this band in the first place, so hopefully the demo will help us get out there!"
What other bands from their region should we check out?
"Big shout-out to the Dutch Hardcore scene, which is going through a bit of a renaissance right now. Gotta start with the hometown friends: from Cold Grip, Hometown Crew, Blood of Kings, Lifespite, and Probation.
"Also check out our friends in Curselifter, Dogma, Swell (Jurrien from Swell has filled in on guitar at a couple of our shows-love ya man!), Out of the Blue (for the beatdown fans!), Tigerknife, Swan Slaughter, State Power also released a fantastic EP on the same date as our demo (release show featuring us, Curselifter and Wonderful World soon!).
"Belgium is also pretty close by and has some awesome bands, like Becoming (AD). Germany has a very lively scene as well, shout out to Soul Prison! There's tons of bands I am probably forgetting to mention, but the Northwest Europe scene is definitely popping off right now and worth keeping your eyes on!"
Spear on social media: Instagram
Tagged: spear
