Apoptygma Berzerk (/əˈpɒptɪɡmə/; commonly abbreviated to APBorAPOP) is a Norwegian musical group. They produce music with a style of synth-pop and ballads backed with electronic rhythms, commonly known within the scene as "futurepop".[1][2] Apoptygma Berzerk has won awards and top 10 spots in Germany and Scandinavia.[3] Apoptygma Berzerk has toured Europe, North America, South America, Israel and Australia with bands such as VNV Nation, Beborn Beton, Icon of Coil and Unheilig.
The band was formed by Stephan Groth and Jon Erik Martinsen in 1989. Martinsen left the band due to creative differences. The name "Apoptygma Berzerk" has no particular meaning; frontman and founding member Stephan Groth claims that it was randomly picked out of a dictionary (the first word being derived from the Ancient Greek word ἀπόπτυγμα meaning "piece of a tunic").
Groth has cited influences including Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), Jean-Michel Jarre and John Carpenter.[4] The first two albums, Soli Deo Gloria and 7, were a similar style of electropop and EBM. Welcome to Earth eschewed the dark themes of 7 for a lighter, less aggressive sound, and included a few experimental tracks. In Harmonizer the style changed a softer, more synthpop-oriented direction, compared to previous albums, and their 2006 album, You and Me Against the World, represented an almost complete change in style for the band. It featured a more mainstream, indie rock-oriented sound, and the complete departure from the band's traditional electric synthpop and EBM roots that started with 7. In 2009, they released their album Rocket Science.
Many albums feature a hidden track that can be accessed by fast forwarding through many minutes of silence on the last album track. For instance, on 7, one can hear a remix of Nonstop Violence after Love Never Dies (Part II).[5][6]
