The Berzerker are an

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

band from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and was formed in 1995. The band's music, heavily influenced by older

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 ...

and

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. G ...

, can be characterized as a fusion of these with

speedcore Speedcore is a form of electronic music that is characterized by a high tempo and aggressive themes. It was created in the early to mid-1990s and the name originates from the hardcore genre as well as the high-speed tempo used. This music rarely ...

, and

gabber Gabber (; ) is a style of electronic dance music and a subgenre of hardcore techno, as well as the surrounding subculture. The music is more commonly referred to as Hardcore, which is characterised by fast beats, distorted & heavier kickdrums, ...

. The band's founding member Luke Kenny described the band's style as industrial death metal. The Berzerker has produced five full-length albums, ''

The Berzerker The Berzerker are an extreme metal band from Melbourne and was formed in 1995. The band's music, heavily influenced by older death metal and grindcore, can be characterized as a fusion of these with speedcore, and gabber. The band's founding me ...

'' (2000), '' Dissimulate'' (2002), '' World of Lies'' (2005), ''

Animosity Animosity may refer to: * ''Animosity'' (comic), an American comic book series published by AfterShock Comics *Animosity (band) Animosity was an American death metal band from San Francisco, California, formed in 2000. The band released three ...

'' (2007) and ''

The Reawakening ''The Reawakening'' is the fifth and final album by the band The Berzerker released in 2008. This was the first album by the band not to be sold in stores after the band left Earache Records Earache Records is a British independent record l ...

'' (2008). These were released through

Earache Records Earache Records is a British independent record label, music publisher and management company founded by Digby Pearson in 1985, based in Nottingham, England, with offices in London and New York. The label helped to pioneer extreme metal by rel ...

, with the exception of the last album, which was self-released through

Berserker Industries In the Old Norse written corpus, berserker were those who were said to have fought in a trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the modern English word '' berserk'' (meaning "furiously violent or out of control"). Berserkers ...

. During the early part of their career as a live act, band members were identified only as The Vocalist, The Guitarist, The Bassist and The Drummer, distinguishable on stage only by the masks they wore. However, the group eventually abandoned this device, after the masks became unhygienic with age, and to avoid unfavorable comparisons with Slipknot. A DVD documentary, ''The Principles and Practices of The Berzerker'' (2004), includes several hours of live concert footage, as well as the first public images of the band members without their masks. Most of the band's music videos have been banned from broadcast for reasons such as the possible

epileptic seizure An epileptic seizure, informally known as a seizure, is a period of symptoms due to abnormally excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Outward effects vary from uncontrolled shaking movements involving much of the body with los ...

-inducing imagery contained in the video "Forever", and the horrific imagery of "Reality". The latter features graphic images of cadavers and body parts.

Biography

Beginnings and the first album (1995-2000)

The Berzerker gained the attention of worldwide metal audiences through remixes of songs by death metal bands

Deicide Deicide is the killing (or the killer) of a god. The concept may be used for any act of killing a god, including a life-death-rebirth deity who is killed and then resurrected. Etymology The term deicide was coined in the 17th century from m ...

and

Morbid Angel Morbid Angel is an American 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 ...

. They did this by remixing the song with the screams of mentally ill patients with their good friends Stalaggh. Earache signed the act, then consisting only of Luke Kenny as a one-man DJ/programmer. Kenny had previously been a drummer in various Melbourne bands, including an early death metal group called Mystic Insight, but after suffering injuries in a motor vehicle accident which involved twenty 18-wheeler trucks, was forced to give up playing.

' website suggests that the album was supposed to be recorded at

Devin Townsend Devin Garrett Townsend (born May 5, 1972) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He founded extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and was its primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist from 1994 to 2007. He has also ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

studio with contributions from well-known metal artists David Vincent (Morbid Angel), Kevin Sharp (

Brutal Truth Brutal Truth was an American grindcore band from New York City, formed by ex- Anthrax, Nuclear Assault, and Stormtroopers of Death bass guitarist Dan Lilker in 1990. The group disbanded in 1999, but reformed in 2006 and continued to release mus ...

, Damaged),

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 ...

(Brutal Truth,

Nuclear Assault Nuclear Assault was an American thrash metal band formed in New York City in 1984. Part of the mid-to-late 1980s thrash metal movement, they were one of the main bands of the genre to emerge from the East Coast along with Overkill, Whiplash, T ...

), and

Jed Simon Jedson Louis Simon (born February 27, 1964) is a Canadian musician. He was a member of supergroup Scar the Martyr and has been a member of numerous metal bands, including Front Line Assembly, Strapping Young Lad, Zimmers Hole, and TENET. He is ...

(

Strapping Young Lad Strapping Young Lad was a Canadian extreme metal band formed by Devin Townsend in Vancouver in 1994. The band started as a one-man studio project; Townsend played most of the instruments on the 1995 debut album, ''Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing' ...

Zimmers Hole Zimmers Hole is a Canadian heavy metal band from Vancouver. The band formed in 1991, and features former Strapping Young Lad members Byron Stroud, Jed Simon and Gene Hoglan, along with vocalist Chris Valagao. History ''Bound by Fire'' Zi ...

) until they were all injured in a mysterious event. After disagreements and financial issues, Kenny returned to Australia and worked with friend Sam Bean, who recorded guitar parts, as well as backing vocals. Also enlisted was another Sam contributing backing vocals, dubbed "Toby" due to Bean's seniority. Guitarists Jason and Ed Lacey from local metal band The Wolves were also recruited, and after a lengthy recording session, the band's first album, ''

'', was released. The album received wide praise in underground metal magazines, and the band was compared to

Napalm Death Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in 1981 in Meriden, West Midlands. None of the band's original members has been in the group since 1986. But since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch ...

and

. The band's masks and live performances earned them further publicity. Videos for the songs ''Reality'' and ''Forever'' were released, but were rarely aired on MTV and other mainstream outlets. MTV refused after they received threats for "heads to roll."

New members, the second album and touring (2001-2003)

The Berzerker had their first full U.S. tour after performing fewer than half a dozen shows, touring with other underground bands

Dying Fetus Dying Fetus is an American death metal band originally from Greater Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Formed in 1991, the group is known for their consistently hook-laden song structures, characterized by blast beats, complex riffing, slam riffs and hea ...

Gorguts Gorguts is a Canadian death metal band from Sherbrooke, Quebec, formed in 1989. The band has been through many personnel changes since its inception; its only constant member has been guitarist and vocalist Luc Lemay, who remains the primary cr ...

and

Skinless Skinless is an American death metal band from Glens Falls, New York. The band formed in 1992 and disbanded in 2011, but reformed in 2013. History Skinless was formed by Ryan Wade and Noah Carpenter in the town of South Glens Falls, New York. ...

. Although the shows were well received, the band did not function through the rigors of touring as a unit and at the end of the tour the session musicians, drawn from Melbourne band Alarum, departed. For some months it seemed doubtful that The Berzerker would last for long. There had been constant setbacks at every stage and any momentum gained was now lost with the departure of the live act. However, the arrival of two replacement members injected new life into the band – drummer Gary Thomas from

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

band Plague and guitarist Matt Wilcock from Melbourne death metal band

Abramelin Abramelin may refer to: *''The Book of Abramelin'', a famous 15th century grimoire *Abramelin oil, anointing oil mentioned within the book; popular in the 20th century largely due to occultists Samuel Mathers and Aleister Crowley *Abramelin (band) ...

, currently in

Akercocke Akercocke are an English extreme metal band from London, formed in 1997 by Jason Mendonça and David Gray. The band also features Paul Scanlan and Nathanael Underwood. History Akercocke's first album, '' Rape of the Bastard Nazarene'', was sel ...

. With the arrival of these new members The Berzerker set about recording their follow up album '' Dissimulate''. The song 'No-one Wins' was also released as a video. It was claimed that Thomas' drumming on this song was considered for submission to the

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

as fastest drumming performance and while the band has since dismissed this as a fan-fueled rumour, it was included in official press releases at the time. Around this time the band's dragon logo was redone by designer Ivan Kenny-Sumiga. The band celebrated by playing live shows which resulted in onstage violence in Melbourne for months before heading off for a world tour lasting from 2002 to 2003. After covering Australia, The Berzerker toured the US with Immolation, Vader and

Origin Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * Origin (comics), ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * The Origin (Buffy comic), ''The Origin'' (Bu ...

, then travelled to the UK for a headlining tour with Labrat, Insision and

Red Harvest ''Red Harvest'' (1929) is a novel by Dashiell Hammett. The story is narrated by the Continental Op, a frequent character in Hammett's fiction, much of which is drawn from his own experiences as an operative of the Pinkerton Detective Agency (fic ...

. This culminated in an infamous Earache Christmas Party appearance, where the band terrorised both record label and the audience. This exceptionally violent and drunken performance was captured on the DVD ''Principles and Practices of The Berzerker''. The band continued on to the US after a brief Christmas break to do another full US tour with

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

and Dark Tranquillity. Disaster struck in New York however when Thomas had an altercation with a bouncer that resulted in a broken foot and cracked vertebrae. The band could not pull out of the tour as there was still a week left, and each show had to be played to allow them to afford to make plane flights to the next tour because members of the band were poor. To solve the problem, Kenny took on playing the drums as well as vocals. Nile drummer Tony Laureano played the

Carcass Carcass or Carcase (both pronounced ) may refer to: *Dressed carcass, the body of a livestock animal ready for butchery, after removal of skin, visceral organs, head, feet etc. *Carrion, the decaying dead body of an animal or human being *The str ...

cover "Corporal Jigsore Quandary" each night. The footage of this would later be added to the DVD "The Berzerker". At the end of that tour, the band spent ten days in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

before their headline tour of the UK and Europe began. With no drummer, auditions were organised and the band selected a local drummer to take on tour. The new drummer was required to learn the full headlining tour set in six days. The Berzerker hit the UK for its next round of headlining shows featuring snuff footage, locals being abducted, and audiences getting punched in the face, then headed out to Europe for their first-ever appearance there. Finally after five months of touring the band headed home.

First DVD, unmasked for the first time (2004)

Luke Kenny decided to focus the downtime into compiling all the footage he had recorded of the band, producing a DVD titled ''The Principles and Practices of The Berzerker''. This DVD ended up being over four hours long, consisting of one professionally shot show, another concert-worth of assorted bootleg footage, backstage recordings, band rehearsals, and touring. Also included was documentary-style footage of the recording of both albums (including many unflattering incidents), full interviews with band members, the making of the masks and artwork, and contributions from fans, including one who had tattooed the dragon logo onto her back. The DVD was recommended by ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' for aspiring metal bands. The DVD brought with it a change in The Berzerker – for the first time, the band members' faces were unmasked. Following this, a decision was made to lose the masks altogether.

''World of Lies'' (2005-2006)

With Thomas healing in Perth and Wilcock moving to the UK to join Akercocke, The Berzerker decided to record the third album '' World of Lies'' over Christmas 2004 with the original lineup from the debut album. It was recorded spontaneously over a week, with no prior planning in direct opposition to how they had created albums in the past. In other changes, all guitar tracks were recorded directly into a laptop via an

analog-to-digital converter In electronics, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC, A/D, or A-to-D) is a system that converts an analog signal, such as a sound picked up by a microphone or light entering a digital camera, into a digital signal. An ADC may also provide ...

without a guitar amp and no live drumming featured on the album. Subsequent live performances featured Dave Gray of Akercocke taking over drumming duties. The album was well received by many critics and one said that "it is a masterpiece of work, that was created in only a matter of minutes".

''Animosity'' (2007-2008)

A year after the release of '' World of Lies'', The Berzerker released their fourth studio album ''

'' on February 12, 2007. This recording saw the band return to their older style of music with a drum machine included for the drum parts as well as a faster tempo in most of the tracks compared to the previous album. A special edition version of this album was also available which included a bonus live CD by the band recorded at London Dome on December 16, 2006 featuring the then new track "Heavily Medicated", a selection of tracks from their previous albums, as well as several covers of songs by

and

''The Reawakening'' (2008-2009)

Animosity was the last record the band were contracted with Earache Records. For the next album ''

'' the band released it through their own label 'Berzerker Industries'. The album was only available through their official online store. Following the release they toured extensively in several parts of the world sharing the stage with other acts including

Satyricon The ''Satyricon'', ''Satyricon'' ''liber'' (''The Book of Satyrlike Adventures''), or ''Satyrica'', is a Latin work of fiction believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius, though the manuscript tradition identifies the author as Titus Petro ...

, Napalm Death, Suicide Silence, and Zonaria.

Hiatus and break-up (2009-2010)

2009 would be the last known year where the band were actively touring the world and playing shows. After October 2009 the band ceased updates. No new tours or future plans were announced. The band appeared to be on hiatus for just over a year, and in late 2010 it seemed the band had indeed split up following several status updates on their Myspace profile referring to 'It's Finally Over' and 'Last Berzerker show in Melbourne'. Furthermore, Kenny has stated that he had lost interest in carrying on with the band and has since moved on to a photography job for ''Evokke'' magazine. Since the break-up, former bassist, Sam Bean has released an album with his new band, The Senseless. He also stated in an interview that The Berzerker were on "indefinite hiatus", adding that this "is the best way to describe it."

Return (2019-present)

According to the official Facebook page of the band, The Berzerker said a new album would be released in 2020, but as of September 2021, no album has been released.

Lineup

Current members

*Luke Kenny - vocals, programming (1995-2010, 2019-present) *Sam Bean - bass, guitar, vocals (1999-2007, 2019-present) *Ed Lacey - guitars (1999-2010, 2019-present) *Matt Wilcock - guitars (2002-2007, 2019-present) *Jason V. - guitars (1999-2007, 2019-present)

Past members

*Chris Valagao - vocals (1998-1999) *Patrick Beaudoin - guitars (1998-1999) *Adrian Naudi - guitars (2005) *Martin Bermheden - guitars (2008-2010) *Tim Aldridge - guitars (2008-2010) *Damien Palmer - bass (2007-2010) *Matthew Racovalis - drums (2000-2001) *Gary Thomas - drums (2002-2003) *Fillip Rutherford - drums (2003) *David Gray - drums (2006-2007) *Todd Hansen - drums (2007-2010)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:15 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1995 till:2020 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1995 Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:guitar value:green legend:Guitars id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Lines1 value:black legend:Studio_release LineData = at:2000 color:Lines1 layer:back at:2002 color:Lines1 layer:back at:2005 color:Lines1 layer:back at:2007 color:Lines1 layer:back at:2008 color:Lines1 layer:back BarData = bar:Kenny text:"Luke Kenny" bar:Valagao text:"Chris Valagao" bar:Beaudoin text:"Patrick Beaudoin" bar:Lacey text:"Ed Lacey" bar:Wilcock text:"Matt Wilcock" bar:Jason text:"Jason V." bar:Naudi text:"Adrian Naudi" bar:Bermheden text:"Martin Bermheden" bar:Aldridge text:"Tim Aldridge" bar:Bean text:"Sam Bean" bar:Palmer text:"Damien Palmer" bar:Racovalis text:"Matthew Racovalis" bar:Thomas text:"Gary Thomas" bar:Rutherford text:"Fillip Rutherford" bar:Gray text:"David Gray" bar:Hansen text:"Todd Hansen" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Kenny from:1995 till:2010 color:vocals bar:Lacey from:1999 till:2010 color:guitar bar:Wilcock from:2002 till:2007 color:guitar bar:Jason from:1999 till:2007 color:guitar bar:Bean from:1999 till:2007 color:bass bar:Bean from:1999 till:2007 color:vocals width:3 bar:Kenny from:2019 till:end color:vocals bar:Lacey from:2019 till:end color:guitar bar:Wilcock from:2019 till:end color:guitar bar:Jason from:2019 till:end color:guitar bar:Bean from:2019 till:end color:bass bar:Bean from:2019 till:end color:vocals width:3 bar:Valagao from:1998 till:1999 color:vocals bar:Beaudoin from:1998 till:1999 color:guitar bar:Naudi from:2005 till:2006 color:guitar bar:Bermheden from:2008 till:2010 color:guitar bar:Aldridge from:2008 till:2010 color:guitar bar:Palmer from:2007 till:2010 color:bass bar:Racovalis from:2000 till:2001 color:drums bar:Thomas from:2002 till:2003 color:drums bar:Rutherford from:2003 till:2004 color:drums bar:Gray from:2006 till:2007 color:drums bar:Hansen from:2007 till:2010 color:drums

Discography

Albums

* ''

'' (2000) * '' Dissimulate'' (2002) * '' World of Lies'' (2005) * ''

'' (2007) * ''

'' (2008)

Live albums

* ''The Berzerker - Live and Rare'' (2000) * '' The Berzerker - Live in London'' (2010)

EPs

* ''Archie Campbell'' (Website EP - 4 mp3 tracks) (1995) * ''No?'' (EP) (1996) * ''Full of Hate'' (EP) (1996) * ''Inextricable Zenith'' (EP) (1998) * ''Broken'' (EP) (2000) * ''Animosity EP'' (2006) * ''The Reawakening EP'' (2008)

Demos

* ''Demos 1998'' (2000)

Appearances on compilation albums

* ''This Is Terror 11 - Mixed by the Sickest Squad & Frazzbass'' ("Her Fear Was a Lie" exclusive song for T.I.T. Records) (2008)

DVDs

* ''The Principles and Practices of the Berzerker'' (DVD) (2004)

References

External links

Official websiteThe Berzerker
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

The Berzerker
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

The Berzerker
at

MusicBrainz MusicBrainz is a MetaBrainz project that aims to create a collaborative music database that is similar to the freedb project. MusicBrainz was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the Compact Disc Database (CDDB), a database for sof ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berzerker, The Musical groups established in 1995 Musical groups from Melbourne Australian death metal musical groups Deathgrind musical groups Masked musicians Earache Records artists Musical quintets