ArnoCorps is a

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

group based in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

that exclusively performs songs based on the films of

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

. The focus of the band is on inspirational, humorous and energetic live performances. The stage show features audience involvement, including any-gender, any-weight, impromptu bodybuilding competitions and endurance tests.

Career

After releasing two self-produced EPs in 2000 and 2001, ArnoCorps built a fan following in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. The band's full length

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

was announced for release in 2005, titled ''The Greatest Band Of All Time''. British metal label Anticulture Records released the album in the UK and Europe in February 2006. After receiving critical praise in British magazines such as ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

'' and ''

Total Guitar ''Total Guitar'' is a monthly music magazine based in Bath, the United Kingdom, that has been in circulation since 1994. The magazine is owned by Future plc, who publish many other magazines ranging from drums and video games to technology mag ...

'', along with mainstream radio airplay on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

, ArnoCorps headlined tours of the UK and Ireland. The first tour earned the band a 10 out of 10 rating from the BBC for a performance in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, an appearance on commercial radio station Kerrang! 105.2 and a rave review of their London show in the October 2006 issue of '' Bizarre''. In 2008, ArnoCorps was voted "Best San Francisco (local) Rock Band" by the readers of ''

SF Weekly ''SF Weekly'' was a free alternative weekly newspaper founded in the 1970s in San Francisco, California. It was distributed every Thursday, and was published by the San Francisco Print Media Company. The paper has won national journalism awards, ...

''. The band started a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign to fund their latest project, ''The Fantastic EP'', which covers the '' Conan'' films among other new tracks.

Musical style

The lyrics of ArnoCorps songs have a particular emphasis on Schwarzenegger's

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

roles from the 1980s such as ''

The Terminator ''The Terminator'' is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cyborg assassin sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), whos ...

'', ''

Predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

'' and '' Total Recall'', with many of the lyrics retelling movie dialogue and plots, similar to The Misfits' lyrical focus on

horror films Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoc ...

and

B-movies A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

. As a further part of their concept, ArnoCorps make tongue-in-cheek claims of being inspired by ancient

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

and

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

originating from the

alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

of their "native" Austria, suggesting that there are actually

sociological Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...

and

philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

topics being addressed in their lyrics. As part of a

publicity stunt In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utilize ...

, the band accused several

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

movie studios A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production ...

with "stealing" the mythology of Austria for plot material. In 2004, the band attempted to launch a

class-action lawsuit A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class action ...

against the studios on behalf of the Austrian people, although the case failed to go to court.

Live performances

The band combines a military-centric appearance with a musical style rooted in both

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 ...

(particularly

skate punk Skate punk (also known as skatecore and skate rock) is a skater subculture and punk rock subgenre that developed in the 1980s. Originally a form of hardcore punk that had been closely associated with skate culture, skate punk evolved into a mo ...

) and heavy metal. Describing their music as "Action Adventure Hardcore Rock and Roll", the focus of the band is on energetic live performances which feature interaction with the audience. Attendees and fans are referred to by the band as "Goddamn Heroes and Sheroes." The band's stage show sees all six members dressed specifically in combat fatigues and camouflage paint (inspired by the movies ''

'' and ''

Commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

'') and address the audience in "ballsy" accents. Each band member uses a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

and have heroic backstories. ArnoCorps often performs with two bass players in their line-up (an arrangement they refer to as "heroic symmetry").

Discography

* ''ArnoCorps EP01'' (2000) * ''ArnoCorps EP02'' (2001) * '' The Greatest Band Of All Time'' (2005 US, 2006 UK) * ''The Ballsy EP'' (2009) * ''The 2001 EP'' (2011 Re-release of remastered and remixed select tracks from EP01 and EP02) * ''Two More!'' (2012 Limited Edition CD of the songs Pumping Iron and Stay Hungry) * ''The Fantastic EP'' (2013) * ''The Unbelievable'' (2017) * ''Welcome to the Gym!'' (2019)

Current lineup

* Holzfeuer - Vocals * Erich Nagelbett - Guitar * Vielmehr Klampfe - Guitar * Öddum Kriegtroll - Guitar * Inzo Der Barrakuda - Lead Bass * Karl Dichtschnur - Low Bass * Baron Von Trotz - Drums

Past members

* Der Wölf * Schlagbolzen * Halstucha * Toten Adler * Gellend Adler

References

External links

*
Label Website

ArnoCorps on MySpace

ArnoCorps on Schwarzenegger.com

Interview by Sound Scene Revolution (Podcast)

Interview with ArnoCorps on Deviant Nation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnocorps Musical groups from San Francisco Bands with fictional stage personas Musical groups established in 2000