Eloy Fritsch Ruy Fritsch Gustavo Demarchi Rainer Steiner Daniel Motta
Past members
Chico Fasoli Adriano Menegazzo Chico Casara Magoo Wise Guto Basso Alberto Rasia Filho Deco Zezinho da Batera Fábio Schneider Rafael Schmitt Carlos D'Elia
The lineup of Apocalypse consists of Eloy Fritsch (electronic keyboards), Ruy Fritsch (guitars), Daniel Motta (bass), Rainer Steiner (drums) and Gustavo Demarchi (lead vocal, flute, and acoustic guitar).
Apocalypse has been called "one of the all time biggest names on the Brazilian progressive rock scene."[2]
History
Apocalypse was born in 1983, in Caxias do Sul, Southern Brazil, founded by Eloy Fritsch and some school friends at the Colégio Nossa Senhora do Carmo who got together for a student music contest.[3] After this first concert, guitar player Ruy Fritsch and drummer Chico Fasoli joined their ranks, playing with the band at the Festival 1º Ópera Rock. From the beginning, they made use of organ, synthesizers, classical vocals and created songs influenced by Uriah Heep, Yes, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Genesis and Queen. From 1984 to 1988, the line-up changed several times.[4]
In 1992, the line-up stabilized with Eloy Fritsch (keyboards), Ruy Fritsch (guitar), Chico Fasoli (drums) and Chico Casara (bass, vocals). Apocalypse was now signed to rock label Musea. The album Perto do Amanhecer was released in France in 1995. The positive reviews from abroad started to arrive, which led to a rise in the band's popularity and another invitation from Musea, this time for the compilation "Le Melleur du Progressif Instrumental".[3] With its baroque influences and interplay of minimoog and guitar solos, the chosen song was "Notre Dame".
In their following album, Aurora dos Sonhos, Apocalypse created several complex and long progressive rock tracks, such as "Do Outro Lado da Vida" and "Vindo das Estrelas". “Aurora dos Sonhos” was again released in France by Musea and was well received. In 1998, the band was invited to play at the Planeta Atlântida music festival in Southern Brazil.[5]
After this show, they signed with Atração, a Brazilian label and released a CD entitled The Best of Apocalypse, with tracks from their French CDs. To promote this CD, they decided they should tour other parts of Brazil. In April, they were invited by the Rock Symphony label and travel to Rio de Janeiro to take part in the Rio ArtRock Festival third edition, playing together with English band Pendragon at the Teatro João Caetano. One year later, in 1999, they were invited to play in the USA, at the long running progressive rock festival, Progday. This show was the first time a Brazilian band recorded a show in the USA for a CD release.[3]
The album Live in USA was released as a double CD with a CD-ROM track containing a videoclip and a booklet with many photographs from the US trip. The CD was released in 2000 and Rock Symphony took over the distribution.[3]
The CD Refúgio was released in 2003 by the Rock Symphony and Musea labels with new tracks such as “Viagem no Tempo”, “Amazônia”, “Lembranças Eternas”, “Refúgio”, “Liberdade”, “Terceiro Milênio” and the epic “Cachoeira das Águas Douradas”. As a bonus, it also includes two songs from the “Live in USA” double CD. By 2004, Chico Casara (vocal and bass) left Apocalypse, and the other musicians decide to go on with a new line-up.[3]
Singer Gustavo Demarchi and bass player Magoo Wise were invited to join the band. Apocalypse took on a new project: to record some of their old hits in English and also to start writing in the newly adopted language. In September 2005, Apocalypse was invited to another festival, this time the Rock Symphony For The Record festival at the Teatro Municipal de Niterói, Rio de Janeiro.[3]
The band's concert, on September 8, was released on DVD through the Rock Symphony label together with Musea Record Company. After this show, the band made another appearance in Rio, in 2006, playing together with English band Uriah Heep at the Canecão as part of the Rock in Concert Brazil.[6]
Released in Brazil in 2008 by Free Mind Records and in Europe and Asia by Musea Records, The Bridge Of Light won several awards as Best of 2008: "Best Album", "Best Cover", "Best Show" and "Best Keyboardist" to Eloy Fritsch.[3] In early 2009, the band also received the trophy Vasco Prado in honor of its 25-year career and Eloy Fritsch received the "Azorean Music Award - Honorable Mention" for his contribution to the south Brazilian music scene.[3]
In 2009, the band undertook two tours in promotion of The Bridge Of Light including shows in the states of São Paulo and Parana. In addition to touring, the band performed with frequency in Rio Grande do Sul, the band´s home state. For the second consecutive year, the keyboardist and composer Eloy Fritsch was also dubbed as "Brazilian Best Rock Keyboardist" in 2009 by the Brazilian rock site Whiplash.[3]
The National Grape Party in Caxias do Sul, south of Brazil was the first show of the new drummer of the band, Fábio Schneider. He joined the band in substitution of the old drummer, Chico Fasoli.[3]
In 2011 the group released the 25th Anniversary Box Set. Unpublished work in the national progressive rock, the box brought a DVD of the concert recorded in September 2009 at the Hall of Acts of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, the live CD Magic Spells bringing classic tunes of the band's career, a book written by the journalist and producer Eliton Tomasi telling the whole story of the band and, finally, the new Apocalypse studio album. In the same year Apocalypse promoted one important project in its career, the quintet released the concert Rock Sinfônico with Orchestra and Choral, September 11, at the UCS Theatre in the city of Caxias do Sul, south of Brazil.[1][bettersourceneeded]
In 2012 Apocalypse received the Açorianos Music Awards, honoring the contribution of Apocalypse to the music in the south of Brazil. The awards ceremony took place on May 9, 2012, at the São Pedro Theater, Porto Alegre, Brazil. The singer Gustavo Demarchi also received a trophy for creating the best artwork for the Apocalypse 25th Anniversary Box Set.[1] In 2013, Apocalypse was the opening act for Yes in Porto Alegre, Brazil, during Yes World Tour playing the 3 albums The Yes Album, Close To The Edge and Going For The One.[1][bettersourceneeded]
Tomasi, Eliton. The Apocalypse Hystory. Evangraf Editora, Porto Alegre, 2011 (2011)
Box set
Apocalypse - The 25th Anniversary BoxSet (2011)
Compilation appearances
Circuito de Rock (1989) Track: "Só Você"
Le Melleur du Progressif Instrumental (1996) Track: "Notre Dame"
Rio Art Rock Festival (1999) Track: "Corta"
ProgDay Encore (2001) Tracks: "Corta", "Jamais Retornarei", "Clássicos (Rock Version)"
Margen - Music from the Edge Vol. 16 (2002)- Track: "Refúgio"
Classic Rock Society - New Species 09 (2013) - Track: "New Sunrise"
Singles
"Magic" (2004)
Related Research Articles
Brazilian rock refers to rock music produced in Brazil and usually sung in Portuguese. In the 1960s, it was known as iê-iê-iê, the Portuguese transcription of the line "Yeah, yeah, yeah" from the Beatles song "She Loves You".
Eloy Fernando Fritsch is an electronic musician, keyboard player and main composer of Brazilian progressive rock band Apocalypse. As a solo artist he creates cosmic new-age music.
Perto do Amanhecer is the second studio album by Brazilian progressive rock group Apocalypse. The compositions are in the symphonic prog rock way with influences of progressive British bands such as Yes, Marillion, IQ, Genesis and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Keyboardist Eloy Fritsch's Minimoog solos and synthesizers are present on all tracks of this CD. The album has some classical moments and even hard rock passages. The lyrics are in Portuguese and deal with several themes, such as existentialism, nature, science fiction, and mysticism. Musea invited the band to perform at a compilation, which came later as Le Melleur du Progressif Instrumental. This CD was edited in the end of 1995 with several European bands and Apocalypse representing Brazil with the song "Notre Dame".
Aurora dos Sonhos is the third studio album by the Brazilian progressive rock group Apocalypse. One year after Perto do Amanhecer, Apocalypse released Aurora dos Sonhos through Musea Records. The album dealt with different issues like conservation of nature, science fiction and spirituality. The tracks scan the fields of neo prog and symphonic rock with comfort.
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Apocalypse Live in USA is the first live album by Brazilian progressive rock group Apocalypse. The Rock Symphony Record Company released the band's double-live album recorded at North Carolina including a multimedia track with the band's history, discography, video clips, and photos. The tracks were taken from their previous CDs released by Musea Records, but there are also the Refúgio album tracks "América do Sul," "ProgJazz," and "Toccata." There is also a track called "Clássicos," which features rock versions of songs by Grieg, Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky. Also, "Paz da Solidão" features Ravel ("Boléro").
Refúgio is the fifth studio album by Brazilian rock band Apocalypse, released in 2003 and the second under Rock Symphony Record Company. Musically, Refúgio features symphonic rock with complex arrangements for keyboards, including organ, piano, digital synthesizer, analog minimoog synthesizer, drums and electric guitar. Refúgio album contains some fan favorites such as the album’s title track and the two progressive epics Cachoeira das Águas Douradas and América do Sul. The band included two bonus tracks from the USA Live recordings Último Horizonte and Terra Azul. The album was to be the last recordings with the band's original lineup.
Apocalypse is the self-titled debut album by the Brazilian progressive rock band founded by Eloy Fritsch and friends to participate in a student festival in 1983, though with a different lineup. The trio of musicians signed with Acit Records in 1990 and traveled to Porto Alegre to record their first release. The material on Apocalypse was written mostly by keyboardist Fritsch. Fritsch's songs were generally longer and more elaborate and featured mystical lyrics which reflected his interest in science fiction, cosmos and nature. At the time of their first self-titled LP release, they interrupted the traffic in their town's main street and gave a concert for over 2,000 people.
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