Die Apokalyptischen Reiter

Die Apokalyptischen Reiter is a German metal band formed in 1995 in Weimar, Thuringia. The band is known for its blend of melodic death metal, symphonic metal, power gothic and folk elements, with lyrics in German and English that are often philosophical, political or introspective. The band's name means "Horsemen of the Apocalypse". Their debut album Soft & Stronger was released in 1997, followed by Allegro Barbaro in 1999, where their style blends melodic death metal with orchestral passages. In 2000, All You Need Is Love was released, marking their first international recognition. In 2003, their first album for Nuclear Blast, Have a Nice Trip, reached number 95 in the German charts, followed by Samurai (2004), which accentuates the band's stylistic diversity, combining heavy metal, clean vocals and growl with electronic influences. After Riders on the Storm (2006) and Licht (2008), which reached #31 and #29 respectively in the German charts, the band gained in popularity through intensive touring in Europe, and made further progress in the sales charts with the albums Moral & Wahnsinn (2011), which reached #18, and Tief.Tiefer, #22 in 2014, a double album featuring a metal and an acoustic part. In 2017, Der Rote Reiter (No. 10) returned to a more direct, heavy sound, while its successor, The Divine Horsemen (2021), moved towards a more experimental, tribal and improvisational style, resulting in a certain ebb in the charts (No. 22). The following year, the band's most successful album, Wilde Kinder (2022), with its Neue Deutsche Härte-esque industrial feel, was a completely different matter, reaching No. 9. The band's line-up, which includes original members Fuchs (Daniel Täumel) on vocals and rhythm guitar and Volk-Man (Volkmar Weber) on bass and shouted vocals, has included two new musicians since 2023, Titus Maximus (guitar) and Rohgarr (Euch Rohgarr) on drums.