Caliban are a German metalcore band from Essen. To date, they have released thirteen studio albums and two EPs, along with two split albums with Heaven Shall Burn. History Caliban was formed in Essen, Germany in 1997 as Never Again. In the beginning, the band consisted of vocalists Andreas Dörner and Marc Ulfig, guitarists Björn Kaiser and Marc Görtz, bassist Engin Güres and drummer Kai Kogelheide. With this lineup, a self-titled demo was recorded. After six months of playing together and several member changes – Ulfig, Kaiser and Kogelheide left, the latter were replaced by Claus Wilgenbusch and Robert Krämer – the band recorded two songs for a demo, which was never released. The songs were sent to several record labels, and Lifeforce Records was the first to offer the band – by then called Caliban – a record deal. Caliban's first self-titled EP came out in the summer of 1998. To promote it, the band played many shows all over Europe and a few support shows for bands including Morning Again, Earth Crisis and Cro-Mags. After their European tour in 1999, Caliban entered the studio to record their first full-length entitled A Small Boy and a Grey Heaven. The CD received favorable reviews in many big magazines and many smaller hardcore and metal zines. They also released the first part of a split-CD with Heaven Shall Burn, named The Split Program. Vent came out in April 2001. Vent was released by Imperium Records and by Howling-Bull Records in Japan. Shortly after the release, Caliban was offered the opportunity to tour Japan to play the Beast-Feast 2001 in the Yokohama Arena, sharing stage with bands including Slayer, Pantera, Machine Head, Biohazard and Morbid Angel. The Japan trip was followed by a U.S. tour with Bloodjinn, which was interrupted by the September 11 attacks. In August 2002, Caliban recorded their third official release Shadow Hearts. This record was more melodic and harmonic than its predecessors. In 2004 the band got a record deal with Roadrunner Records in Europe (Abacus Recordings in the US) and started to record their fourth album, The Opposite from Within, alongside producer Anders Fridén, who is known for fronting In Flames. In July 2005, the band released the second part of their split-CD with their friends from Heaven Shall Burn, called The Split Program II. The band released their fifth album called The Undying Darkness in February