Andy Classen is a German record producer, sound engineer and musician.

Holy Moses

He began his career in 1980 as a guitarist for the German

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band

Holy Moses Holy Moses is a German thrash metal band active from 1980 to 1994 and again since 2000. They are well noted for being fronted by Sabina Classen, who is the only constant member of Holy Moses, and for being one of the first German thrash metal ...

, fronted by his ex-wife

Sabina Classen Sabina Classen ( Hirtz; born 27 December 1963) is a German thrash metal singer, best known as lead vocalist of Holy Moses and Temple of the Absurd. Biography In 1981, Classen joined Holy Moses, where her then-husband Andy Classen was playing ...

. In 1989 the band bought a house in the village of

Borgentreich Borgentreich is a municipality in the Höxter district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Borgentreich lies roughly 20 km south of Brakel and 10 km northeast of Warburg. The constituent community of Borgholz lies on the ...

-Bühne in the vicinity of

Warburg Warburg (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Warberich'' or ''Warborg'') is a town in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, central Germany on the river Diemel near the three-state point shared by Hessen, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. It ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

. In 1990 they founded a

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

named 'West Virginia Records' and opened the Stage-One-Studio in their new house (so named because "Bühne" is German for "stage"). He remained lead guitarist in Holy Moses till 1994. Creative differences that had arisen during the production of the Holy Moses album ''No Matter What's the Cause'' (1994) with bassist

Dan Lilker Daniel A. Lilker (born October 18, 1964) is an American semi-retired musician best known as a bass player, but also guitarist, pianist, drummer and vocalist. He was the bassist for the thrash metal band Nuclear Assault and was a founding member ...

and Ryker's drummer Meff lead to Andy Classen leaving the band. Ultimately he and Sabina divorced, and West Virginia Records was dissolved. Holy Moses was inactive till 2001 when it was revived by Sabina Classen, with Andy Classen acting as occasional songwriter and producer. In 2005 Holy Moses recorded the album '' Strength Power Will Passion'' the first without Andy Classen's involvement.

Producer

Andy Classen became producer and engineer in Stage-One-Studio in 1990. Among his first productions were the albums ''When War Begins...'' by the German

thrashcore Thrashcore (also known as fastcore) is a fast-tempo subgenre of hardcore punk that emerged in the early 1980s. Thrashcore is essentially sped-up hardcore, often using blast beats. Songs can be very brief, and thrashcore is in many ways a less ...

band Warpath and ''Mc Gillroy the Housefly'' by the German psychedelic

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

band Incubator, both of which were critically acclaimed, with the latter still having a cult following in the death metal underground. He also became influential in the German

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

scene, being the producer for bands like Ryker's and Brightside. In 1994 he took over the studio completely and produced for other labels like

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a heavy metal record label with offices in the United States, Germany and London. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by Robert Kampf and Oli ...

Gun Records GUN Records (''Great Unlimited Noises'') was a record label located in Bochum, Germany, founded in 1992 by Bogdan Kopec ( DRAKKAR Promotion Musikverlag GmbH) and Wolfgang Funk. Different artists on the label have had hit singles as well as albu ...

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...

AFM Records AFM Records GmbH is a music label based in Schwalmstadt, Germany. They focus on the heavy metal musical genre, signing bands such as U.D.O., Doro, Lordi, Kotipelto, Masterplan, Nostradameus, and Annihilator. In 2005, Candlelight Records si ...

Massacre Records Massacre Records is an independent record label based in Abstatt, Germany, that specializes in bands of the heavier genres of metal. The label was founded in 1991 by Torsten Hartmann. Connected to Massacre Records is the marketing and music w ...

Season of Mist Season of Mist is an independent record label and record distributor with subsidiaries in France and the United States. The record label was founded in 1996 by Michael S. Berberian in Marseille, France. From the start releasing black metal, pag ...

, Armageddon Music etc. During the nineties Andy Classen established himself as one of the premier producers for hardcore, thrash metal and death metal music in Europe. His sound

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...

usually are described as aggressive and powerful, yet transparent. Among others he produced records for the bands

Dew-Scented Dew-Scented was a German thrash and death metal band. They have released eight studio albums and were last signed to Metal Blade Records (Europe) and Prosthetic Records (USA/North America). Their name is inspired by the writings of Edgar Allan P ...

Tankard A tankard is a form of drinkware consisting of a large, roughly cylindrical, drinking cup with a single handle. Tankards are usually made of silver or pewter, but can be made of other materials, for example wood, ceramic, or leather. A tankard ...

Disbelief Disbelief (sometimes decapitalized to "disbelief") is a German heavy metal band from Hesse. Their music is rooted in death metal, but has melancholic tendencies. History The band was formed in 1990, but did not become one solid line-up fo ...

, President Evil (all from Germany),

Asphyx Asphyx is a Dutch death metal band that was formed in Overijssel in 1987. History The band was formed in 1987 by Bob Bagchus and Tony Brookhuis. Joost was picked up for vocals and bass, but was replaced by Chuck Colli after the release of ...

(Netherlands), Legen Beltza ( Basque Country),

The Old Dead Tree The Old Dead Tree was a progressive death metal band from the city of Paris, France active between 1997 and 2019. Musical style Their musical style is a mixture of death metal elements, such as double bass drumming and heavy guitar riffing, and ...

(France),

Graveworm Graveworm is an Italian extreme metal band from Brunico formed in 1992. History Before Graveworm even released a demo, they were signed by Serenades Records after a performance close to their hometown of Brunico, northern Italy. Graveworm was ...

(Italy) and Deafness by Noise (Croatia). From the year 2000, he has found increasing recognition for his work in the international scene, with bands like

Rotting Christ Rotting Christ is a Greek black metal band formed in 1987. They are noted for being one of the first black metal bands within this region, as well as a premier act within the European underground metal scene. They are also responsible for creat ...

from Greece, Criminal from Chile/Great Britain, Dark Embrace from Spain,

Krisiun Krisiun is a Brazilian death metal band, founded by brothers Alex Camargo (bass, vocals) (Born March 11, 1972), Moyses Kolesne (guitars) (Born August 11, 1973) and Max Kolesne (drums) (Born June 12, 1974). Since its formation in 1990, the gro ...

from Brazil as well as Mantic Ritual and

Solace of Requiem Solace of Requiem is an extreme metal band originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia. The group formed in 2001 with traditional death metal roots but began combining elements of technical death metal and black metal by the time of their 2010 rel ...

from the USA recording with him.

Richthofen and Seelenwalzer

In 1997 Andy Classen was founding member, songwriter, producer and guitarist with the German

Neue Deutsche Härte Neue Deutsche Härte (; "new German hardness"), sometimes abbreviated as NDH, is a subgenre of rock music that developed in Germany and Austria during the early-to-mid 1990s and during the early 2000s. Alluding to the style of Neue Deutsche Well ...

industrial metal band Richthofen. After objections by the

Richthofen family Richthofen is the surname of a prominent German aristocratic family. The most famous member is the air ace Manfred von Richthofen (1892–1918), also known as the "Red Baron", but a number of other members of his family are also notable for vari ...

the band was legally required to drop the name and Richthofen disbanded in 1999. In 2019 Classen and musicians of the original Richthofen band founded the band Seelenwalzer referencing the name of Richthofens first album. The debut album ''Totgeglaubt'' – German for "believed dead" – is being published with Massacre Records in May 2019.

Charts

In 2003,

Die Apokalyptischen Reiter Die Apokalyptischen Reiter (German for " The Apocalyptic Riders") is a Weimar, Germany based heavy metal band signed to Nuclear Blast in Europe and The End Records in North America. Musical style The band's original style, featured on th ...

's '' Have a Nice Trip'' was the first album produced by Andy Classen to enter the charts, reaching number 95 in Germany. Since 2007, Legion of the Damned from the Netherlands have been able to chart regularly with Andy Classen-produced albums in Germany. '' Sons of the Jackal'' reached number 54 and in the following year, 2008, they even charted twice, reaching number 70 with '' Feel The Blade'' (and number 64 in Austria) and number 60 with '' Cult of the Dead''. Austrians

Belphegor In Christian demonology, Belphegor (or Beelphegor, he, בַּעַל-פְּעוֹר ''Báʿal-pəʿór'' - Lord of the Gap) is a demon. In later Kabbalah Belphegor is a demon who helps people make discoveries. He seduces people by suggesting to ...

also charted in 2008 (with ''

Bondage Goat Zombie Bondage Goat Zombie is the seventh studio album by the Austrian blackened death metal band Belphegor. Artwork by Ralph Manfreda. It is the first album to feature bassist Serpenth. Some of the tracks deal with the writings of the Marquis de Sad ...

'') and 2009 (with ''

Walpurgis Rites – Hexenwahn ''Walpurgis Rites – Hexenwahn'' is the eighth studio album by the Austrian blackened death metal band Belphegor. It was released in 2009 on Nuclear Blast Records (their third for the label). Like its predecessors, ''Pestapokalypse VI'' and ...

''), reaching number 99 and 81 in Germany and even number 42 and 60 in Austria.

Credits

References

External links

Stage-One-Studio
– Andy Classen's official studio website
official myspace
– with sample songs from Andy's own new project 'Nine XI'
Seelenwalzer
– official website of the Seelenwalzer band

{{DEFAULTSORT:Classen, Andy German male musicians German audio engineers Living people German record producers Year of birth missing (living people)