Out of Sweden, you have the legendary and long-running Release Music Magazine that have been writing about electronic music since the late 80's, and when they approaced us and asked if Stephan could present them with his list of his 10 favorite albums released between 2010 and 2019, how could he refuse!
The albums are in no particular order, and no explanation is given, just 10 albums!
You can find the list here, and hopefully it will be one for inspiration: https://www.releasemagazine.net/top-10-albums-of-the-2010s-by-stephan-groth-apoptygma-berzerk/
APOP said no to all German festival requests for 2020, except one, and that's the open-air one-day festival in Gelsenkirchen on the 15th. August after a special invite by long time friends and colleagues VNV Nation.
The one-day festival will take place in the beautiful Amphithetater Gelsenkirchen, and the full line-up is: VNV Nation, Apoptygma Berzerk, Actors, Heldmaschine and Steril.
The very first gig APOP ever played in Germany, was the 7th. April 1994 at Kaue in Gelsenkirchen, also then with Steril as the support act, so with this one-day festival, it will be full circle after 26 years!
Tickets can be bought via this link at Eventim: https://www.eventim.de/artist/vnv-nation/vnv-nation-30-apoptygma-berzerk-actors-heldmaschine-steril-2112287/
Come summer 2020, Apoptygma Berzerk will once again go back to Sweden, and this time for the 5th. Anniversary of SubKult Festivalen in Trollhättan, just 30 minutes outside Gothenburg!
It's a 3 day festival from the 25th-27th. June, and APOP will be headlining on Friday the 26th. June.
A lot of other bands will be added to the line-up, but the first 9 bands were just released, and you can see that and ticket info here: www.subkultfestivalen.se
We are truly looking forward to going back to Sweden, and with many sweet memories from similar "folkpark" festivals like Arvikafestivalen, our favorite festival of all times, we're looking forward to be getting a similar experience in Trollhättan! Hope to see you all there! :D
The coming Apoptygma Berzerk EP, "Nein Danke!" is to be released late September, but already on the 12th. August, there will be a 2-track digital teaser released on all digital platforms and streaming services!
And yes, we're talking about two brand new "pop" songs, with vocals, deeply rooted in the analogue synth sounds of "Exit Popularity Contest", combined with the finest of new wave synth pop from 1978 - 1982. APOP have pulled out their favorite albums from that period and molded the songs in the sound and shape of APOP, but with clear references to the late 70's and early 80's.
The CD EP will contain 7 tracks, whereof 3 of them are brand new; "A Battle For The Crown", "Atom & Eve" and "Security In Familiar Pain". There's also a re-recording of the old "Near"/"Nearer" track that APOP have performed live for the past 2 years now with Jonas Groth on vocals, now called "Nearest". This version has finally seen the inside of a recording studio, and the result is truly stunning. Also there will be a couple of remixes, a C-64 version, and a previously unreleased horror movie soundtrack piece. The 12" vinyl EP will see the 3 new tracks + "Nearest" on it, and the digital version will have 5 of the 7 tracks from the CD EP.
But in the meantime, you must settle with the 2-track teaser, but we know that there are loads of people waiting for new material from APOP, and the good news is that it's here, VERY SOON!
The 2-track digital teaser from "Nein Danke!" can already be pre-ordered via the official Bandcamp page here: PRE-ORDER - NEIN DANKE!
For the occasion of having Vile Electrodes as our support-act on 3 of the gigs in August, we've made a special 7" tour-souvenir in RED VINYL that can only be bought during these gigs in August.
There will also be a CLEAR VINYL version 7" that will be released on the 16th. August via Tatra Records, distributed in Europe and Japan via Broken Silence. On this 7", Vile Electrodes is remixing Apoptygma Berzerk's "Deep Red", and Apoptygma Berzerk is remixing Vile Electrodes "Deep Red" (yes, they also have a song by the same name from 2013)!
The result is some amazing new-wave synthpop versions of both tracks! :D We can't wait for you to hear it! Also, this is a great way for us to celebrate the 25th. Anniversary of "Deep Red". For now, there's no plans to release these tracks digitally, so if you want to make sure you don't miss out, then you can pre-order the 7" here already via Poponaut: DEEP RED 7" SINGLE CLEAR VINYL
In case you've missed out on the gigs in August, here's the dates (tickets via Eventim.de!) :
15th. August - Hannover / Capitol (DE)
16th. August - Dresden / Reithalle Strasse E (DE)
17th. August - Köln / Essigfabrik (DE)
18th. August - W-Festival / Waregem (BE)
24th. August - Parkteatret / Oslo (NO) (SOLD OUT!)
We'd basically decided NOT to play any more festivals for the remainder of 2019, with the exception of W-Fest in Belgium 18th. August, but when the offer came in from DarkMAD Festival in Pinto/Madrid (Spain), and we saw the amazing line-up, we just couldn't say no! Sharing stage with old friends like Covenant, A Split Second, Ancient Methods and The Cassandra Complex, as well as other cool old-school electro/goth artists like Fields Of The Nephilim, Robotiko Rejekto, Microchip League, Kirlian Camera, Signal Aout 42, Flash Zero and Love Is Colder Than Death, and of course Turkish post-punk/death-rock/goth act She Past Away, is something we are very much looking forward to, and this will be a 2 day party the attendees will never forget! :D
There's a homepage with ticket info etc here: www.darkmad.es and their Facebook event page is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/779718675700108/
Just to be clear, we will NOT be performing on ANY of the usual German festivals this summer, so if you're German and want to get your APOP fix this summer, catch us on our club gigs in Hannover 15th. August (Support: Vile Electrodes), Dresden 16th. August (Support: The Invincible Spirit) or Köln 17th. August (Support: Vile Electrodes) or drive over to Belgium for the W-Festival on the 18th. August! The show in Oslo on the 24th. August sold out in only 28 hours, so the tickets for Parkteatret are long gone unfortunately!
See you all in August! :D
"It's Apoptygma Berzerk, Jim - but not as we know it."
APOP reinvents itself - again - with an exciting new sound; different from, but complimentary to, the electro rock future pop stylings of previous releases.
On Exit Popularity Contest (a fix-up of the 12" EPs Stop Feeding The Beast, Videodrome and Xenogenesis), APOP founder Stephan Groth distils the essence of carefully selected pioneers to construct a classic yet refreshingly contemporary sound. Varied and vital, it brings instrumental music back into the spotlight, and after the wildly enthusiastic audience reaction to the sold-out performance in Norway last year, it appears he has tapped into a rich seam of electronic pleasure for a new generation as well as older aficionados.
Always a musical chameleon, Groth pays homage to his roots through emulating the analogue soundscapes of innovators like Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis and Klaus Schulze, and the driving motorik Krautrock rhythms of Neu!, Cluster and La Duesseldorf, all filtered through his own unique Scandinavian sensibility. In doing so he has created a vibrant, colourful 21st century palette on which to blend these classic influences from the Golden Age of electronic music.
Exit Popularity Contest demonstrates an admirable musical purity and sincerity, channeling the best of the past to forge a path into the future.
