VI.BE

The beginnings of what would later grow into Fear Disease were formed in 2014 by brothers Hans (rhythm guitar & vocals) and Mathias Paesen (drums) in Meeuwen (Belgium). What started out as jam sessions covering mainly Sepultura songs lead to the creation of original material and the independent release of a first self-made demo titled ‘Harbinger of Tempest’ in 2017. By then the band had taken shape under the name ‘Limbo’ with the addition of Jonas Parren on lead guitar, followed by Cas Hegge joining on bass. Around that time they had moved their headquarters to Bocholt (Belgium).

The band played a number of shows throughout their home country and also one in the Netherlands and Germany, and was also featured on a radio show based in Las Vegas before being contacted by a few record labels. It wasn’t until September 2018, when they received an e-mail from Jonathan Mazzeo (producer at The Grid Europe), that the ball started rolling. He had come across the band online, recognized their potential, and put them in contact with Wormholedeath. The label signed them soon after that.

The next step was to start composing new material for the first full-length album. As Jonas and Cas had now become part of the creative process, the influences on the sound expanded from thrash and old-school death metal to groove metal as well as bits of metalcore and black metal.

Along the way, a problem arose with the band name. It turned out it had already been taken. Therefore the choice was made to rename the band ‘Fear Disease’, after one of the song titles from the demo released in 2017. It refers to the parallel drawn between the state of mind of living in fear and the actual fear of contracting the disease. Ironically the covid crisis hit the world soon after, delaying the schedule to enter the studio several times. Eventually, in August 2021 the band was able to make the trip to Pistoia (Italy) and record their debut album ‘Floodgates’, set for release in 2022.