Music:
Member Since: 08/10/2008
Band Members:
Swiss Thrash Metal band APOCALYPSE issued a 1985 demo, recorded by a line up comprising singer Roberto Pierdona, guitarists Julien Brocher and Pierre-Alain 'Zurich' Zurcher, bass player Jean-Claude Schneider and drummer Andre 'Momos' Domenjoz.
Singer Roberto Pierdona was replaced by Carlos Sprenger & following APOCALYPSE's 1988 full lenght debut album, originally released on Out Of Tune Records, was later picked up by Music For Nations(album was mixed by Flemming Rasmussen & had METALLICA's 'Master of Puppets' directions), who released it through their Under One Flag imprint.
APOCALYPSE were touring a lot in Switzerland with METALLICA in the early 90's. Funny thing, the gig in Bern, Switzerland they baked a special cake in the form of a bottle of Tequila for them, welcoming METALLICA to the country.
Bass player "Bourreau" retired for sometime, because of family problems and band couldn't tour or move away for long after that.
APOCALYPSE returned in the early 90's, delivering the 'Faithless' 1993 album with a new singer Nick Raeboud.
This band could have outclassed CELTIC FROST and even CORONER to become the most prominent Swiss band if they had been lucky(or not that lazy) to release albums on more regular terms.
Their self-titled 1988 debut is a striking piece of semi-technical power/thrash with great riffs and memorable tracks; the opening track "Digital Life" is a truly impressive beginning, at the same time speedy, catchy and technical. What follows is equally as strong, including two great energetic technical instrumentals- "Smash" and "Dark Sword".
The long 6-year break between the two albums was detrimental to the band, as most of the fan-base had almost completely forgotten about them. However, they reminded of themselves in a magnificent way with "Faithless" featuring the same flamboyant style of the past, immediately shown with the very first track: "House of Confusion"- a blistering fast-paced technical thrasher, with a long, and slightly annoying quiet ending; the sound is more aggressive, with some mighty intense, speedy pieces present: "Division", accompanied by others, slower, but graced by some really stylish technical breaks: "Extreme Sensation"- the most technical track on the album. "Shoot You Down" is perhaps the odd song: longer and slower than the rest, apparently designed as a semi-ballad, with a more restrained guitar presence. Another great aggressive thrasher("Bad Breath") closes this magnificent album, which, alas, remained the band's last work. Copyright© THE THRASH METAL GUIDE.
Thanks to singer Carlos Sprenger for some additional information.
Influences: METALLICA
Sounds Like:
METALLICA, KREATOR, ANTHRAX, SODOM, DESTRUCTION, CORONER, SLAYER, TESTAMENT
Type of Label: Major