Die Apokalyptischen Reiter

For the silent film, see The Red Rider (1923 film). For the sound film, see The Red Rider (1935 film).

Die Apokalyptischen Reiter (German for "The Apocalyptic Riders") is a German heavy metal band formed in Weimar in 1995.^[2]

Die Apokalyptischen Reiter
Die Apokalyptischen Reiter at Hamburg Fest 2018
Background information
Origin	Weimar, Germany
Genres	Melodic death metal Avant-garde metal Folk metal Power metal Symphonic metal Neue Deutsche Härte Death metal (early)
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Nuclear Blast, The End
Members	Fuchs Volk-Man Rohgarr Titus Maximus
Past members	Skelleton Pitrone Lady Cat-man[1]
Website	reitermania.de

Musical style

The band's original style, featured on their releases up to and including Allegro Barbaro and on a few songs on All You Need Is Love, consists of death/thrash metal blended with melodic compositions. In later albums, the death metal influence declined, resulting in less chaotic composition (often centered around a verse and chorus with a bridge and solo), more constant tempo, longer songs and clean vocals (although not exclusively). This resulted in a more polished and accessible sound. The band uses lyrics in both English and German with a shift from mainly English songs to more German ones on recent albums (Licht is entirely in German).

The release of Have a Nice Trip marked somewhat of a turning point for the band; although they retained the essence of heavy metal, they began experimenting with many other styles of music such as ambient and jazz.

Members

Current line-up

• Fuchs (Daniel Täumel) – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1995–present)
• Volk-Man (Volkmar Weber) – bass, screamed vocals (1995–present)
• Titus Maximus – lead guitar (2023–present)
• Rohgarr (Euch Rohgarr) – Drums (2023–present)

• Line-up at Rockharz Open Air 2018
• 
  Daniel "Fuchs" Täumel
• 
  Volkmar "Volk-Man" Weber
• 
  Mark "Dr. Pest" Szakul
• 
  Georg "Sir G." Lenhardt
• 
  Adrian "Ady" Vogel

Former members

• Skelleton – drums, screamed vocals (1995–2000)
• Pitrone (Peter Pfau) – lead guitar (2002–2008)
• Lady Cat-Man (Cathleen Gliemann) – lead guitar (2008–2009)
• Dr. Pest (Mark Szakul) – keyboards (1995–2021)
• Sir G. (Georg Lenhardt) – drums (2000–2023)
• Ady (Adrian Vogel) – lead guitar (2009–2023)

Timeline

Discography

Albums:

• 1997 – Soft & Stronger
• 1999 – Allegro Barbaro
• 2000 – All You Need Is Love
• 2003 – Have a Nice Trip (#95 in Germany)
• 2004 – Samurai
• 2006 – Riders on the Storm (#31 in Germany, #74 in Austria)
• 2008 – Licht (#29 in Germany, #49 in Austria, #88 in Switzerland)
• 2011 – Moral & Wahnsinn (#18 in Germany, # 41 in Austria, #61 in Switzerland)
• 2014 – Tief.Tiefer (#22 in Germany, #72 in Switzerland)
• 2017 – Der Rote Reiter (#10 in Germany, # 29 in Austria)
• 2021 – The Divine Horsemen
• 2022 – Wilde Kinder

Demos:

• 1996 – Firestorm

EPs:

• 1998 – Dschinghis Khan
• 2006 – Friede sei mit dir
• 2008 – Der Weg
• 2024 – Die Mutter des Teufels

DVDs:

• 2006 – Friede sei mit dir (live-DVD)
• 2008 – Tobsucht (DVD and two live-CDs)
• 2009 – Adrenalin