Apoptygma Berzerk (; commonly abbreviated to APB or APOP) is a Norwegian musical group. They have achieved success with a brand of

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

, and ballads backed with electronic rhythms, commonly known within the scene and referring to themselves as "

futurepop Futurepop is an electronic music genre that has been characterized as a blend of synthpop, EBM and dance beats, based on trance and techno.Peter Matzke, Tobias Seeliger: ''Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon.'' Schwarzkopf und Schwarzkopf, Berlin ...

". Apoptygma Berzerk has over 30 releases and won awards and Top 10 spots in Germany and

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and S ...

. Apoptygma Berzerk has toured Europe, North America, South America, Israel and Australia with bands such as

VNV Nation VNV Nation is an Irish alternative electronic project led by Ronan Harris in the roles of singer, songwriter, and producer. VNV Nation's sound combines lyrics with sounds that ranges from melodic industrial dance anthems, to haunting ballads ...

Beborn Beton Beborn Beton is a German synthpop band founded in 1989, with their first album release in 1993. Their debut named ''Tybalt'' is a compilation of the best tracks written in the first three years of their band history and was very well received in ...

Icon of Coil Icon of Coil is a Norwegian electronic music band. The band was established as a solo project in 1997 by Andy LaPlegua who was joined by former Sector 9 (now Moonitor and Zombie Girl) bandmate Sebastian Komor to perform live. With the relea ...

and

Unheilig Unheilig ( German for "Unholy") was a German band that featured a variety of influences, including various pop and electronic styles as well as harder, nihilistic hard rock. The band was founded in 1999 and principally consisted of singer B ...

Formation

The band was formed by

Stephan Groth Stephan Groth (born 10 August 1971) is a Danish-Norwegian singer. He is the man behind Apoptygma Berzerk, an electronic body music act that plays in styles such as synthpop and futurepop. Groth was born in Odense but relocated with his fami ...

and Jon Erik Martinsen in 1989. One of the songs they wrote together, "Ashes To Ashes" would later be released as a

12-inch The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

single on the Norwegian label Tatra Productions in 1991. Martinsen left the band due to creative differences. The name "Apoptygma Berzerk" has no particular meaning; frontman and founding member

claims that it was randomly picked out of a dictionary (the first word being derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

word ἀπόπτυγμα meaning "piece of a

tunic A tunic is a garment for the body, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the knees. The name derives from the Latin ''tunica'', the basic garment worn by both men and women in Ancient Ro ...

").

Influences and style

Groth has cited influences including

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize t ...

, Tangerine Dream,

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic band formed in Wirral, Merseyside, in 1978. The group consists of co-founders Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals), along with Martin C ...

(OMD), Jean-Michel Jarre and John Carpenter. The first two albums, '' Soli Deo Gloria'' and '' 7'', were a similar style of electropop and EBM. '' Welcome to Earth'' eschewed the dark themes of ''7'' for a lighter, less aggressive sound, and included a few experimental tracks. '' Harmonizer'' featured a softer, more synthpop-oriented direction when compared to previous albums, and their 2006 album, '' You and Me Against the World'', represented an almost complete change in style for the band. It featured a more mainstream,

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produ ...

-oriented sound, and the complete departure from the band's traditional electric synthpop and EBM roots that started with ''7''. With the release of latest album, '' Rocket Science'', Apop is still going on the rock vibe while keeping synthpop sounds like its predecessor, ''YAMATW''. Many albums feature a hidden track that can be accessed by fast forwarding through many minutes of silence on the last album track. For instance, on ''7'', one can hear a remix of ''Nonstop Violence'' after ''Love Never Dies (Part II)''. The band also features cover songs on several of their albums. For example, on the American version of ''7'' a cover of "

Electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describe ...

" by OMD is featured; similarly, ''Welcome to Earth'' features a cover of Metallica's "Fade to Black". '' You and Me Against the World'' has a cover of "

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...

" by

Kim Wilde Kim Wilde (born Kim Smith, 18 November 1960) is an English pop singer, DJ and television presenter. She first saw success in 1981 with her debut single " Kids in America", which peaked at No. 2 in the UK. In 1983, she received the Brit Awar ...

and " Shine On" by The House Of Love. They have also recorded covers of

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depech ...

's " Enjoy the Silence", Suede's " Trash", Keane's "

Bend and Break "Bend and Break" is a song performed and composed by English rock band Keane, released as the fifth and final single from their debut album ''Hopes and Fears''. Track listing #"Bend and Break" #" On a Day Like Today" #"Allemande An '' ...

", Kraftwerk's " Ohm Sweet Ohm" and

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...

's " Coma White". Most recently, they have covered

Peter Schilling Peter Schilling (born Pierre Michael Schilling; 28 January 1956) is a German synthpop musician whose songs often feature science-fiction themes like aliens, astronauts and catastrophes. He is best-known for his 1983 hit single "Major Tom (Comin ...

Major Tom (Coming Home) "Major Tom (Coming Home)" (german: Major Tom öllig losgelöst}, 'Major Tom ompletely detached) is a song by singer Peter Schilling from his album '' Error in the System''. With a character unofficially related to "Major Tom", the protagonist o ...

Members

Current members

(STP a/k/a Grothesk) – vocals, programming, guitar, samples (1989–present) *Ted Skogmann – drums, additional guitar (1999–2002, 2011–present) *Jonas Groth – keyboards, production (2009–present) *Audun Stengel (Angel) – guitar (2002–2009, 2013–present)

Former members

* Geir Bratland – keyboards, backing vocals (1995–2009) *Fredrik Brarud – drums (2002–2009) *Brandon Smith – guitar (2009) *Jon Erik Martinsen – keyboards (1989) *Per Aksel Lundgreen – keyboards (1990–1994) * Anders Odden – guitars (1992–1999, 2003–2006) *Fredrik Darum – live guitar (1999–2001) *Thomas Jakobsen – drums (2009–2011)

Live members

* Leandra Ophelia Dax – keyboards (2010–present)

Other collaborators

*Vegard Blomberg of View *Pål Magnus Rybom of Echo Image * Claudia Brücken of

Propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

* Benji Madden of

Good Charlotte Good Charlotte is an American rock band from Waldorf, Maryland that formed in 1996. Since 2005, the band's lineup has consisted of twin brothers Joel Madden (lead vocals) and Benji Madden (guitar and vocals), Paul Thomas (bass), Billy Martin ( ...

Amanda Palmer Amanda MacKinnon Gaiman Palmer (born April 30, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and performance artist who is the lead vocalist, pianist, and lyricist of the duo The Dresden Dolls. She performs as a solo artist and was also a ...

of The Dresden Dolls *

Emil Nikolaisen Emil Nikolaisen (born 4 February 1977 in Moi, Norway) is a musician and producer from Norway. He is frontman, bandleader, songwriter, guitarist & singer of the well-known Norwegian alternative rock band Serena-Maneesh. Nikolaisen has previously ...

Serena Maneesh Serena-Maneesh (previously spelled Serena Maneesh, sometimes shortened to S-M) is a Norwegian alternative rock band from Oslo. Biography The team of musicians who each contribute to the band's sound is organized around songwriter Emil Nikolais ...

* Håvard Ellefsen of Mortiis * Kurt Ebelhäuser of

Blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

* Anneli Drecker of

Bel Canto Bel canto (Italian for "beautiful singing" or "beautiful song", )—with several similar constructions (''bellezze del canto'', ''bell'arte del canto'')—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing. The phrase was not associat ...

*Vile Electrodes

Line-up changes

Per Aksel Lundgreen joined Apoptygma Berzerk in 1990, and remained an active member until 1994. He has since pursued numerous other musical projects, most recently joining Rossetti's Compass as a permanent member in March 2013. Anders Odden has been the most reoccurring member of Apop, joining in the live lineup in the early 1990s, and reappearing several times during the next 15 years, both live and in the studio. Geir Bratland also joined in the first part of the 1990s. In 1999, Fredrik Darum and Ted Skogman joined the band for the Welcome To Earth album and world tour. In 2001, Fredrik and Ted were replaced with Fredrik Brarud and Angel. The 2006 release You And Me Against The World and 2009's Rocket Science, are the only albums to feature other persons than main man Stephan as part of the band (Geir Bratland, Angel, Fredrik Brarud and Anders Odden on You And Me Against The World, and without Anders on Rocket Science). In July 2009 Angel, Geir and Fredrik departed from the Apoptygma Berzerk lineup. In August 2009, Brandon Smith (frontman from the electronic rock band The Anix) confirmed that he was joining the band on guitar for the US and Canada legs of the upcoming tour. source- www.theanix.com Brandon wrote on the forum saying, "This is just going to be a test run type of tour, to see how well Apop does in the US, Canada, and South America. I will be playing guitar for them on this tour." On 3 September 2009, Stephan wrote on the official site: In 2010, Leandra Ophelia Dax (the only female member of the band thus far) stood in for Jonas during the support tour for German band

. In 2011, Thomas Jakobsen was replaced by Ted Skogman, and Angel came back, replacing Brandon (though Brandon has appeared live a few times after this, e.g. in Mexico City 2014).

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Soli Deo Gloria'' (1993) * '' 7'' (1996) * '' Welcome to Earth'' (2000) * '' Harmonizer'' (2002) * '' You and Me Against the World'' (2005) * '' Rocket Science'' (2009) * ''Exit Popularity Contest'' (2016) * ''SDGXXV'' (2019)

References

External links

* *
Apoptygma Berzerk
Metropolis Records *
Interview with Stephan Groth of Apoptygma Berzerk on NXLive.co.uk

Italian Fanbase of Apoptygma Berzerk on Facebook.com
{{Authority control Norwegian rock music groups Norwegian electronic music groups Norwegian industrial music groups Electronic body music groups Norwegian synthpop groups Norwegian pop music groups Musical groups established in 1989 1989 establishments in Norway Musical groups from Fredrikstad Musical groups from Sarpsborg Metropolis Records artists Dependent Records artists Futurepop music groups GUN Records artists