Gracchus (band)
Gracchus () is a Swiss heavy metal band, formed in 2015 by Bernhard Schnellmann (vocals and guitar) and Allan Murphy (drums and vocals). Today, the four-man lineup consists of The Two original members as well as the bassist Marcel Bütikofer and the US-American guitarist and backing vocalist Jeff Elrose.
History
2015
After his studies at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California (USA), Bernhard Schnellmann formed Gracchus with his friend Allan Murphy in early 2015. Schnellmann found inspiration for the band's name in Franz Kafka's short story The Hunter Gracchus.
Just shortly afterwards, bassist Marcel Bütikofer joined the band. In March 2015, Gracchus released their first song (Unarmed) on YouTube. On November 5, 2015, the band opened for the NDH band Heldmaschine at the Z7 venue in Pratteln, Switzerland.
2016
On March 12, 2016, Gracchus opened for the Bosnian heavy metal band Divlje Jagode.
In December, Gracchus released their first EP (official release date: December 31, 2016). To this day, the band is very secretive about the meaning behind the EP's name MCMLXXX. Two of the four songs (namely Newborn and Not Your Enemy) Gracchus additionally released as music videos in the same year.
2017
On April 2, 2017, the official music video to My Ashes was released on YouTube. The video was, like the ones before, directed by lead singer Bernhard Schnellmann.
In the summer of 2017, the US-American guitarist Jeff Elrose joined the band. The first song that was written and recorded in this new formation (Rotting) was already released in August 2017.
On October 17, 2017, Gracchus opened for the Belgian band Diablo Blvd.
Musical style
The musical style of Gracchus has not been decisively defined yet. The critic Andreas Schiffmann, for example, vaguely described the band's music (in the context of their EP MCMLXXX) as "US-oriented Modern Rock with metal borrowings" ["amerikanisch orientierten Modern Rock mit Metal-Anleihen"]. Schnellmann himself classified their style in an interview with the newspaper Zuger Woche (2017) as "Heavy Rock". Drummer Murphy added to that definition the description "groove heavy metal with hard riffs and a topping of harmony and atmosphere" ["Groove-Heavy-Metal mit harten Riffs und ein Topping mit viel Harmonie und Atmosphäre"].
Band members
- Current members
- Bernhard Schnellmann – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (2015–present)
- Allan Murphy – drums, backing vocals (2015–present)
- Marcel Bütikofer – bass guitar (2015–present)
- Jeff Elrose – lead guitar, backing vocals (2017–present)