CONTAMINATION was founded by Philipp Reinhardt (gtr), Konstantin Luick (dr), and Tobias Berger (gtr/vox) in Esslingen (A.N.), Germany, in late 2007.
Influenced mainly by early '90s-era Death/Thrash Metal (e.g. Sepultura, Demolition Hammer, Solstice, Incubus, and many more), the trio concentrated on precisely plotting their calculated musical direction. CONTAMINATION would come to purvey a heady mix of raging, aggressive Thrash with a stench of old-school brutal Death Metal, and embellished with technical prowess.
Both guitarists, Berger and Reinhardt, had already formulated some strong musical ideas throughout the years before the band's birth. Therefore, CONTAMINATION's first songs developed naturally and rapidly into the “Globus Inversus” 5-song demo; self-released by the band in a limited quantity of only 500 unleashed during early 2010. Tobias Berger assumed command of main vocals as the brutal collective wisely decided to avoid the addition of a separate frontman. Also during this period, longtime ally Matthias Klews was recruited as bassist. Effective October 2009, CONTAMINATION performed live on stage as a solid 4-man aggregation.
For about ten days between April and May of 2013, CONTAMINATION entered the infamous Stage One Studio (Belphegor, Krisiun, Legion of the Damned) to record their full-length debut album “Nightmare Asylum” with iconic producer Andy Classen (Ex-Holy Moses). Considered by many as an EP because of the recording's relatively brief length *(note: Slayer's \"Reign in Blood\" achieved Extreme Metal immortality with only 30-minutes total running-time!), \"Nightmare Asylum\"s thirty minutes of terror and brutality marks the fiery baptism in the band's independent signature style. Released in September of 2014, CONTAMINATION's \"Nightmare Asylum\" was highly received and critically acclaimed in the press immediately.
7Hard Records (a division of the 7US Media Group) expressed strong interest in CONTAMINATION's recorded material, resulting in a deal for official label contract and worldwide distribution rights. In support of \"Nightmare Asylum\", a video for the album track “Beyond Mortality” was professionally created and released in 2015. Unfortunately, a year later in 2016, bass-player Matthias Klews exited the band due to family obligations. In rapid succession, longtime-supporter and ally Lutz Friedrich, was eventually tapped to be CONTAMINATION's full-time bassist.
After a 2-year period of live shows supplemented with concentrated songwriting, CONTAMINATION finally entered the halls of another infamous studio to record their second full-length in early 2018.
This time the choice fell on Woodshed Studios (Tryptikon, Obscura), where the band’s new record was recorded and mixed/mastered from January to April 2018 by V. Santura (Tryptikon, Dark Fortress). The new album, entitled “Traumatic Recollections”, raises the band technically to a new level and offers a 50 minute ride of pure raging Thrash/Death madness. A first professional created video clip for the eponymous title song was created in spring 2019 and released later on October 31st 2019.
Ultimately, after a long search for a suitable label partner, the band decided to release the new record independently by their own in May 2020.
