It's done! 2004 til 2014 - Final Prayer celebrate their 10th anniversary! After tons of shows and various releases Final Prayer have brought their very own brand of heavy and energetic hardcore combined with a strong socio political message to a fast moving scene and beyond without following any trends or hypes. With the band now being around for such a long time, it only makes sense to have this biography start at the very beginning!
After starting to jam in 2004, with the vision to combine the spirit of the 80's and 90's Hardcore/ Punk movement with the smacking sound of today, a couple of songs were recorded in a practice room and put out as a limited demo tape. The demo sold out in no time and was even rated “demo of the month” in Germanys ? leading magazine for Rock and Metal music, “Rock Hard”.
After a split CD with their buddies Crisis Never Ends, Final Prayer's first album entitled “Right Here, Right Now” followed in January 2006. The album received raging reviews in many leading heavy metal and hardcore magazines. In support of “Right here, right now” the band played various tours and weekend shows together with bands such as Hatebreed, Sick of it all, Comeback Kid or Terror. Literally the band was playing everywhere – from dirty basements to fancy concert halls. Either way the bands ? approach towards their live performances has always stayed the same: 200% Hardcore energy, no matter what...!
In 2008, after releasing a split 7” with San Francisco-based HC Band Alcatraz, Final Prayer's second full length album “Filling The Void” saw the light of day. Recorded at Berlins ? “Daily Hero Recording” studios, mastered by New York's very own Alan Douches (West West Side Music) and released on GSR Music, the 11 songs again received raging reviews and saw the band touring nearly all parts of Europe in support of the release.
Followed by a three-song EP in 2011 called “Berlin”, which also contained a cover of famous Neue Deutsche Welle band “Ideal”, supported by Nico Wfahm and Bernd Kurtzke of the glorious Beatsteaks, Final Prayer felt confident enough to go into the Daily Hero Studios again and work on new songs, trying to process all the impressions the band made within the last years.
With the help of our long-time friend Dennis Sommer (Ex Black Friday '29) who got into the band, replacing founding member Felix Heiduk on bass-guitar, the result was tremendous. Final Prayer mixed all the different impressions, added them to their very own brand of heavy hardcore and created 10 iconic Songs with a enormous variety of style. Catchy melodies alternate with driving verses, heavy breakdowns and epic sing-alongs.
After a cracking release show in their hometown Berlin “I Am Not Afraid” saw the light of day and earned amazing reviews in all relevant media. The release was again followed by intensive touring throughout whole Europe. DIY tours with friendly bands like Empowerment alternated with professional tours like the “Rebellion Tour” with NY-Hardcore legends Madball, or the “Turn it around anniversary tour” with their old friends in Comeback Kid.
With the 10 year anniversary ahead, Final Prayer is able to look back on some crazy years of compassion, friendship and hard work in a blooming hardcore and metal underground scene. Trying to give a slight impression of what those years looked like, the band wanted to create something special and ransacked their flats for old videos and pictures for a ten years anniversary release. Endless hours of self-recorded tapes were found and brought together – much more than expected. So the band looked for help for the growing project and found it in ambitious films. With the help of such a experienced company the aim of a video-documentary became reachable. The video sequences were complemented with lots of interviews of close friends and partners of the band. The result is a one hour video documentary with lots of informations and a deep personal view on Final Prayer.
Beside the view on the past years, Final Prayer also wanted to show the actual musical state of the band. For this reason, four new songs were written and recorded, on which the band again demonstrates their versatility of combining new melodic choruses and sing-alongs with the heavy tunes Final Prayer is known for.
The result of this process is a ten years anniversary release which is available via Let it Burn Records on limited 10” vinyl + dvd, cd + dvd and as digital download via acuity.music. Release-date will be the 12th of december, followed by a tour at the end of the year.