Release:
22.05.2006
Aghast Recordings / Twilight Vertrieb


Biography:
Neglected Fields rose out of the ashes of local bands in fall of 1995 to form what was to become one of the best known metal acts from the Baltic States. With the initial line-up (Sergej "Destruction” on vocals and guitar, Herman on guitar, Sergej on bass and Karlis on drums) the band travelled to Estonia, where in Townhall Studio in Tallinn they recorded their first demo “Sansara”. The demo, containing four songs strongly influenced by Death, Cynic, Atheist and Carcass with a light touch of beautiful soprano co-leads from session vocalist Rasa, quickly made its way many European metal magazines. And due to a successful promotional campaign the CD received multiple rave reviews, receiving the title “Demo of the Month” in Aardschock (The Netherlands), Extreme (Germany), Eternity (Germany), Vampiria (Italy). Soon after that the band received numerous offers to release the debut CD, while the band enjoyed successful gigs all around the Baltic States, including in Death Comes 6 festival in Vilnius, supporting Therion in front of 1500 fans.
In August 1997 Neglected Fields entered the legendary Tico-Tico Studio (Finland) to record their debut album “Synthinity”. The album, containing 10 songs, was released in June 1998 in Europe and America by Eldethorn records, a subdivison of British Neat Metal records, and licensed for release in Japan by Pony Canyon. “Synthinity” was the first ever CD release by a Latvian metal band. Although the band wasn’t entirely satisfied with the promo campaign for the CD, it still managed to receive favourable reviews - 80/100 in Aardschock, 8/10 in Greek Metal Hammer and 74/100 in Burrn. Soon after the CD saw daylight, Neglected Fields started to gig exclusively in the Baltics, opening for Cannibal Corpse and Dark Funeral in front of 1100 fans. A mini tour was also held in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria.

New ideas were generated and the band considered adding a keyboard player. George, having a diploma of classical musical education in his hands, was in a league of his own and he was willing to join the band. Soon after that the five-piece recorded a self-titled promo demo with three tracks (Solar, Bass solo, The Human Abstract), which lead to a signed record deal with Scarlet Records (Italy). Another legendary studio, this time Abyss, was chosen to record the eagerly awaited follow-up CD. "Mephisto Lettonica" was recorded with a help of Tommy Tagtgren (brother of Pete Tagtgren, Hypocrisy and Pain mastermind, and the owner of Abyss) and released through Scarlet in September of 2000.

“Mephisto Lettonica", with a reference to both some dark character and their native country in the title, exceeded many expectations, also due to touches of black metal (courtesy of George's swirling keyboard licks) and was critically acclaimed (12/15 in Legacy, 9/10 in Metal Heart, 7/10 in Rock Hard, 4/4 in GrindZone, 5/6 in Metal Hammer Italy, 5/6 in Scream, 6/6 in Spark (Czech republic), 10/12 in Thrash 'Em All (Poland), 9/10 in M (Belarus). Interviews with the band appeared in more than 20 leading metal editions all around the Europe. Lately the band has appeared at Brutal Assault 7 festival in the Czech Republic, alongside Incantation, Tiamat, Callenish Circle, Ancient Rites, as well as opening for Dimmu Borgir, Destruction, Impaled Nazarene and gigging in Czech, German, Polish and Belarussian clubs.
Sadly, in November 2002, long-time member Herman decided to pursue other musical directions, and the band quickly recruited new guitarist Jan, who joined the following tour through Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as well as festival appearances in Lithuania, Latvia and the Czech Republic, sharing the stage with Moonspell, Hypnos, Vader and Behemoth.

In December 2003 previous albums were both re-released for Russian market by the famous Soyuz label, and the band played two promotional shows in Moscow and St. Petersburg. A further European headline tour blasted its way through 14 dates in 7 countries.
In October 2004 Neglected Fields entered Astia studio to record drums for the new album, while the whole 9-track monster was produced by TT Oksala (Tiamat, Stratovarius, Apocalyptica), whose reputation in music business leaves no doubts concerning the quality of the recording! Mastered at Finnvox by Mika Jussila, the album can be easily described as a link between latter-era Death and Emperor. The album, entitled “Splentic”, is due to be released in May 2006 (Aghast Recordings).

Discography:
Mephisto Lettonica (released 2000 by Scarlet Records)
Synthinity - (released 1998 by Eldethorn/Neat Metal Records)
Sansara (Demo - released 1996)