Apoptygma Berzerk

This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. Please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links, and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view. (April 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Apoptygma Berzerk (

The band was formed by Stephan Groth and Jon Erik Martinsen in 1989. Martinsen left the band due to creative differences. The name "Apoptygma Berzerk" has no particular meaning; frontman and founding member Stephan Groth claims that it was randomly picked out of a dictionary (the first word being derived from the Ancient Greek word ἀπόπτυγμα meaning "piece of a tunic").

Influences and style

Groth has cited influences including Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), Jean-Michel Jarre and John Carpenter.^[4] 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. In Harmonizer the style changed a softer, more synthpop-oriented direction, 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-oriented sound, and the complete departure from the band's traditional electric synthpop and EBM roots that started with 7. In 2009, they released their album Rocket Science.

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).^[5][6]

Cover Songs

The band has recorded cover songs for several of their albums. On the American version of 7 a cover of "

• Stephan Groth (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)^[8]
• 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
• Benji Madden of Good Charlotte
• Amanda Palmer of The Dresden Dolls
• Serena Maneesh
• Håvard Ellefsen of Mortiis
• Kurt Ebelhäuser of Blackmail
• Anneli Drecker of Bel Canto
• Vile Electrodes

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Apoptygma Berzerk.

• Official website
• Apoptygma Berzerk discography at MusicBrainz
• Interview with Stephan Groth of Apoptygma Berzerk on NXLive.co.uk