Origin: Switzerland
Genre: Death Metal Thrash and Power Metal
Akroasis formed in the spring of 2016 in the persona of Marcel Knupp (guitar) and Gerhard Baeriswyl (drums) in the Swiss canton of Fribourg. In the fall, Christof Schafer joined the troupe on lead guitar. They agreed on the name “Akroasis”, which in Greek can be interpreted both “the hearing” and “the heard” and the conscious perception of music. In 2017, Hänsù Zürrer joined as a bass player, but the search for a suitable singer proved difficult. Therefore, in December 2018, they recorded an instrumental demo at Little Creek Studio to provide a professional foundation for interested singers. The plan worked out and in June 2019 Robin Hermanek became the new man at the mic. At the end of February 2020 a first gig was planned and – you guessed it – was cancelled because of Covid. On 06.05.2022 (as of 03.2022) the record release of Ilion will take place in Bad Bonn Düdingen.
Line-Up
Marcel Knupp | Rhythm Guitars
Christof Schafer | Lead Guitars
Gerhard Baeriswyl | Drums
Hänsù Zürrer | Bass
Robin Hermanek | Vocals
Discography
Ilion | 2021
In May 2020 the recordings for the debut album started – again at Little Creek Studio. The work on “Ilion” was finished by mastering in October 2020. The record was released on December 17, 2021.
Akroasis say about their debut album:
“We are proud to present our first album soon. Endless hours were invested and finally the CD is here! “Ilion” is a concept album, which takes up individual episodes from the events surrounding the Trojan War and the homecoming of Odysseus.”
The album was recorded by the experienced sound engineer V.O. Pulver (GURD, Poltergeist) recorded, mixed and mastered. The artwork was designed by Mayte CG in Spain. The album was released as CD in digipack with storyboard for download or as double vinyl with three recorded sides in different editions of 100x Black, 100x Transparent Purple, 100x Beige / Black Marbled and 100x Turqoise – including enclosed storyboard.
Facts
– Recordings started in May 2020 and finished in October 2020
– recorded at Little Creek Studio
– recorded, mixed and mastered by sound engineer V.O. Pulver (GURD, Poltergeist)
– Artwork was done by Mayte CG
– Released as CD in digipack with storyboard for download
– Released as double vinyl with three recorded sides in different editions of
100x Black
100x Transparent Purple
100x Beige / Black Marbled
100x Turqoise
all vinyls including enclosed storyboard
Reviews
Soundmagnet.eu – 8.5 of 10 points
On Ilion Akroasis travel through the bloody Greek history and wrap it up in diverse Thrash and Death Metal garments. The concentrated hardness of the rhythm fraction is accompanied by a multifaceted vocal performance and melodic guitar work. An album that needs a few runs due to its diversity and then convinces.
https://www.soundmagnet.eu/akroasis-ilion-album-review/
Neckbreaker.de – 8 of 10 points
The way the alternation of growls and clean vocals is used reminds me of bands like SCAR SYMMETRY or SOILWORK. Nevertheless AKROASIS sound independent enough. Best to do a few run-throughs and dive into the world of Scylla, Polyphemus or Charybdis. A musical journey that is not predictable and of course with the lyric sheet/booklet in hand. Headphones wouldn’t be amiss either. The production is nice and clear and punchy, you can hear everything well out. For this, the Swiss guarantor of metal productions number 1, V.O. Pulver (GURD, POLTERGEIST, DESTRUCTION, PRO-PAIN, EMERALD, MESSIAH) is responsible for this, who can once again prove his skills here. Vinyl in black and colored!
https://neckbreaker.de/reviews/cd-reviews/13000-akroasis-ilion
Obliveon – 8 out of 10 points
On “Ilion” guitarist Marcel Knupp, who is a Latin teacher in real life, really lives out his weakness for Greek mythology and once again tells the story of Odysseus and his adventures. The impressive artwork that adorns the cover of “Ilion” shows a scene from the Odyssey, in which the six-headed sea monster Scylla attacks the ship of the Greek hero.
The Spanish artist Mayte CG (among others Attick Demons) succeeded in creating a real eye-catcher. And also in the matter of sound they don’t show any nakedness and have worked with the probably most famous Swiss metal producer V.O. Pulver (Gurd, Poltergeist). Accordingly professional sounds the final product, which knows how to grab the inclined listener from the first to the last minute.
To pick out single songs is actually forbidden, if you want to do justice to the holistic story, but ‘Watershed’ is very well suited as a play tip to illustrate the musical and especially the vocal diversity of singer Robin Hermanek. We can only hope that AKROASIS won’t put themselves between all chairs with their stylistic potpourri, but the quality-conscious metalhead without blinkers will definitely enjoy “Ilion”. If you belong to this species, just contact https://www.docgatorshop.com/ with confidence.
https://obliveon.de/review/akroasis-illion/
Links
Band Homepage: https://akroasis.ch/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AkroasisCH/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/akroasis_ch/
Bandcamp: https://akroasis.bandcamp.com/releases
YouTube
Doomed (Official Visualizer) || Doc Gator Records
Patroclus (Official Lyric Video) || Doc Gator Records
Retrieval (Official Lyric Video) || Doc Gator Records
Watershed (Official Visualizer) || Doc Gator Records
Scylla and Charybdis (Official Lyric Video) || Doc Gator Records