Band from Sarpsborg, Norway; founded in 1989 by Stephan Groth and Jon Erik Martinsen.
Jon left the band and is now in Norwegian synth pop act Sweep (2).
Apoptygma Berzerk, or Apop/APB for short, is arguably one of the most influential projects in the industrial club scene. Though the band has always held a very firm foot within pop, and even its most darkwave/EBM tracks always have great hooks to them. The band gravitated increasingly towards pop as the years went on, culminating with the band's stylistic change towards alternative pop rock with 2005's You And Me Against The World. And while this change in style helped garner APB a lot of mainstream attention, some would argue the project became something different entirely, which was a bold move. The band continued exploring this sound on 2009's "Rocket Science", an album which still showcased a heavy inspiration from 80's post punk and new wave. Since then, APB has returned to its electronic roots with the 2016 instrumental album "Exit Popularity Contest" and subsequent works. With Apop returning to more of a synth pop style reminiscent of earlier works, it's exciting to see where this musical chameleon heads next.
APOP is a must, an icon in the dark scene. Mr. Groth and company are very talented band and any album stands on its own. My favs are Harmonizer and Welcome to Earth (this last one is a master piece of futurepop). I agree they have gone from dark to the light in their music like other bands as Evils Toy or any one still standing from the 90´s. If you like APOP you will love also Melotron, Icon of Coil, Syrian, Funker Vogt, etc..
Apoptygma Berzerk work can be divided in two. His first period, with the his two first album (Soli Deo Gloria and 7) are really oriented in a ebm, industrial way, really more dark than his later release. Their second period start with Welcome to Earth, which is oriented in a totally different direction than their earlier work. Their second period is very more "poppy", really different than their earlier release. The first period is alot more dark, in a industrial way, while the second period is more commercial, much more oriented to pop. In my opinion, APB earlier work are the best, but thats just a personal taste, and the latest album are still very good. Just in a different way than the two first.
"7" and "Welcome to Earth" are my favorites. But if you had to get one album, get 7. Apop doesn't really fit into just one category (EBM/Synthpop/Futurepop/Darkwave); they're/he's probably one of the few artists doing their/his own thing and not being DM wannabes. They're great live.
Alyxxandria
April 20, 2020