Event

Apoptygma Berzerk

Groth and his group are as inseparable as Norway and the fjords. With another vibrant album
to add to the Apop canon, this seems like an appropriate moment to talk to the songwriter
himself in his home town of Fredrikstad. Time to add some depth to the impressive statistics
(a discography numbering more than a dozen albums, over 30 releases if we count singles
and EPs as well - and a band history spanning almost twenty years, touring some 15
countries, with more to follow). âRocket Scienceâ is studio album number six.
The longevity of the Apoptygma Berzerk legend in an increasingly fickle music scene is a
tribute to Grothâs singular determination, and the relatively remote base from which he works
has proved to be beneficial. Nevertheless, he is quick to acknowledge that the process of
coming up with each successive album presents an ever increasing challenge. One way to
counter this is by introducing new blood into the mix. Good Charlotte supremo Benji Madden guests on âApolloâ, for example, and Emil Nikolaisen from fellow Norwegian rockers Serena
Maneesh makes various contributions to the âRocket Scienceâ LP.
The Apop sound, meanwhile â typified by Grothâs vocal delivery â is instantly recognizable
and could never be reduced to the sum of its parts. Compulsive genre seekers tend to lock
them in a box labelled synthpop, but this fails to do justice to their broader appeal across
electronic and rock boundaries.
There is much to be explored in the latest thought-provoking chapter of the Apoptygma
Berzerk narrative. The lyrics will invite you deeper into the rabbit hole if you follow the trail.
Asleep or awake, real or surreal, red pill or blue pill?
As the band cranks up the volume and moves into sonic overdrive, they leave us with one
final question: if itâs not rocket science, then what is it?