Intro (Edit)

Krokus is a hard rock band from Switzerland. They were formed in 1974 by Chris Von Rohr and Tommy Kiefer. The band’s popularity hit its peak in the 1980’s.

The band’s name was derived from a flower. The flower “crocus” is common in Southern Europe. Chris Von Rohr was on a train ride, when he saw field of crocus flowers, and he got the idea for the band name.

Krokus’ original line-up included Tommy Kiefer, Hansi Droz, Remo Spadino, and Chris Von Rohr.

In 1976, the band released their self-titled debut album. Today, this album is rare and known to the band as the “First Album.”

In 1977 the band released their second album called, “To You All.” This was the first album to feature the Krokus logo on the cover and it had limited success in Switzerland. During this time some personnel changes were made. Droz and Spadino had left the band. They were replaced with Fernando Von Arb and Jürg Naegeli.

Painkiller, Krokus’ third album, was released in 1978. The album was released under two different names, Painkiller and Pay It In Metal. The album was also released with five different covers. All albums had the same song list and content despite the different names and covers.

In this time, the band attended an AC/DC concert. After the concert, Krokus decided they wanted to become a riff-rock band. So when Chris Von Rohr could not vocally hit the third octave, the band brought in Marc Storace as lead vocalist.

The first album with Marc Storace singing was released in 1980. The album was called Metal Rendez-vous. The album went triple-platinum in Switzerland. The song Heatstrokes was charted as Number 1 on the British Heavy Metal Charts. This opened doors for Krokus in Britain and the United States.

Krokus’ follow-up was called Hardware. It was not as popular as their previous album, but the album did manage to go Gold in Switzerland.

One Vice At A Time is Krokus’ sixth album. It was the first album to have Mark Kohler playing rhythm guitars. The album went Gold in Switzerland and Canada.

Headhunter was released in 1983. It went Platinum in the United States, and Gold in Canada and Switzerland. The song “Screaming In The Night” was the band’s biggest hits to this date. It was also the only Krokus album to have Steve Pace on drums.

Krokus’ eighth album was called The Blitz. It was released in 1984. This album went Gold in the United States.

The next album, Change of Address, was released in 1986. It has been described as “plainly one of the worst efforts” by the band. The band claims that they were put under too much pressure.

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History (Edit)

The bands follow-up was Heart Attack. It was the bands tenth studio album. It was described by the band as “the last attempt to keep the band together in a deep crisis.” The album featured the song “Rock N’ Roll Tonight” which was, and still is, a live hit.

The year 1990 saw the band release Stampede. It was a whole new line-up, except for guitarist Fernando Von Arb. The new line-up included Peter Tanner singing, Fernando Von Arb playing lead guitar, while Manny Maurer handled rhythm guitars. Tony Castell played bass guitar and Peter Haas handled the drums.

In 1995, Krokus released, To Rock Or Not To Be. The album stayed in the top ten of the Swiss charts for seven weeks. It peaked at number five. Marc Storace and Mark Kohler returned to Krokus during this time.

Round 13 was Krokus’ thirteenth album. It featured Carl Sentance singing on the album. This was the only studio recording since “Metal Rendevous” and “Stampede” that did not feature Marc Storace singing.

In 2003, the band released the album, Rock The Block. The album welcomed back Marc Storace on vocals. It also featured Dominique Favez playing rhythm guitar.

Krokus’ twentieth album is called, Hellraiser. It was released in 2006. This released marked the 30th Anniversary since Krokus’ debut in 1976. Also, Armand “Mandy” Meyer took over lead guitars for this album.

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Update (Edit)

On April 20th, 2008, the band announced a reunion. The classic line-up of Chris Von Rohr, Fernando Von Arb, Freddy Steady, Mark Kohler and Marc Storace had reunited and would be releasing a new studio album in 2009. Also, in support of the album, a world tour would follow.

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