Die Apokalyptischen Reiter

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Die Apokalyptischen Reiter
Lead singer Fuchs at Wacken Open Air 2007
Background information
Origin	Germany
Genre(s)	Thrash metal Death metal
Years active	1995 – present
Label(s)	Nuclear Blast
Website	http://www.reitermania.de
Members
Fuchs - Vocals Volk-Man - Bass Dr. Pest - Keyboards Sir G. - Drums Lady Cat-Man - Guitar

Die Apokalyptischen Reiter is a Weimar, Germany based heavy metal band signed to the Nuclear Blast label. Their name translates to The Apocalyptic Horsemen.

Their original style (featured on their releases up to and including Allegro Barbaro) consists of death/thrash metal blended with melodic compositions establishing a more epic mood than usual in traditional death metal. In later albums, the death metal influence has declined, resulting in less chaotic composition (often centered around a verse and chorus with a bridge and solo), more constant tempo, longer songs and clean vocals (although not exclusively), resulting in a more polished and accessible sound. They use lyrics in both English and German with a shift from mainly English songs to more German ones on recent albums.

The release of "Have a Nice Trip" marked somewhat of a turning point for the band. Although they retained the essence of Heavy Metal, they began experimenting with many other styles of music such as Ambient, Jazz, and even Reggae.

[edit] Discography

1996 Firestorm (Demo-Tape)
1997 Soft & Stronger (Re-Release with Bonus-Tracks (Firestorm Demo) (Ars Metalli & ReRelease Hammerheart Records))
1998 Dschinghis Khan (EP)
1999 Allegro Barbaro (as Re-Release with Bonus-Tracks (Dschinghis Khan EP) (Ars Metalli & ReRelease Hammerheart Records))
2000 All You Need Is Love
2003 Have a Nice Trip (available as normal CD and as Digipak with Manowar Bonus-Track)
2004 Samurai (available as normal CD, CD+DVD, Pink Splattervinyl LP and as DVD+Box (limited to 1000 copies))
2006 Friede Sei Mit Dir (DVD containing a live Show at Summerbreeze Festival, a studio report about the upcoming Album Riders on the Storm and several Videos)
2006 Friede Sei Mit Dir (Single with four new Songs)
2006 Riders On The Storm
2008 Tobsucht - Reitermania over Wacken & Party.San (available as 2CD and DVD containing W:O:A and Party.San live shows)
2008 Der Weg (EP)
2008 Licht