Apoptygma Berzerk’s ‘Soli Deo Gloria’ turns 33
Apoptygma Berzerk’s debut album “Soli Deo Gloria” turns 33 on November 11, 2026. Britta Pirkko looks back at the 1993 Tatra Records release.
On 11 November 1993, Apoptygma Berzerk released their debut album, Soli Deo Gloria, through Norwegian label Tatra Records. Thirty-three years later, it’s worth going back to those thirteen tracks and remembering just how much began with this record.
I have a particular affection for this album. Soli Deo Gloria was one of the first electronic albums I ever owned, and I still love it today. Back then, I had no idea just how important electronic music would become in my life. Some records stay with you for a few years. Others never really leave. This is one of mine.
Apoptygma Berzerk were no longer complete newcomers in 1993. Stephan Groth had already made his first steps into the electronic underground with Ashes to Ashes, The 2nd Manifesto and Bitch. But Soli Deo Gloria was something different. It was the first full-length album, and it brought together the ideas, influences and experiments that had been developing over the previous years.
And what an unusual collection of sounds it was.
There was the raw aggression of Bitch and Burnin’ Heretic, the hypnotic atmosphere of Spiritual Reality, and the almost chaotic experimentation of Skyscraping (Schizophreniac). The latter drew samples from an astonishing range of artists, from Front 242 and Die Krupps to Pixies, Sonic Youth and Alice in Chains. Even then, Apoptygma Berzerk were clearly listening to much more than electronic music.
The inclusion of The Velvet Underground’s All Tomorrow’s Parties, written by Lou Reed, made that even more obvious.
At the centre of it all was Stephan Groth, responsible for the songwriting, vocals, programming and samples. But the album, and the early history surrounding it, were never entirely a one-man affair.
Erik Wøllo co-produced and arranged the record with Stephan, while Anders Odden contributed additional guitar to Burnin’ Heretic. Per Aksel Lundgreen was also an important part of Apoptygma Berzerk during those formative years, involved with the band at a time when getting electronic music heard in Norway was anything but straightforward.
The visual side deserves recognition, too. The original artwork and design came from Subtopia, the creative partnership of Halvor Bodin and Marius Renberg. Christian Bloom designed the Apoptygma logo, while an Albrecht Dürer woodcut became part of the album’s distinctive imagery.
It’s easy to concentrate on the person behind the microphone, but records have a history that extends beyond the music itself, and Soli Deo Gloria is one of them.
Listening to the album today, you hear a young musician who wasn’t concerned with keeping everything neat and predictable. Some tracks are abrasive, others surprisingly delicate. There are strange transitions, unexpected samples and moments when the music seems determined to go somewhere completely different.
Not every experiment works equally well, but that’s part of the appeal. The album has character, and it certainly doesn’t sound like something created by committee.
More importantly, it already contains elements that would become familiar throughout Apoptygma Berzerk’s later work: the contrast between darkness and melody, the fascination with technology, the willingness to borrow ideas from different musical worlds, and the emotional undercurrent beneath all those machines.
When Soli Deo Gloria marked its 25th anniversary in 2018, the occasion became something more than a straightforward reissue. The original album was remastered, and the subsequent SDGXXV project brought together an impressive collection of artists to reinterpret its music.
Several of the people involved in the original album took part again: Stephan Groth, Per Aksel Lundgreen, Erik Wøllo, Halvor Bodin and Tatra Records all had a connection to that anniversary. After a quarter of a century, the record was still bringing people together.
And perhaps that’s one of the most interesting things about Soli Deo Gloria.
For those who discovered Apoptygma Berzerk in the early nineties, the album belongs to a particular time. A time of record shops, physical releases, underground magazines, clubs and discovering music through friends rather than algorithms. For others, it came much later, perhaps after hearing 7, Welcome to Earth or Harmonizer and becoming curious about what Apoptygma Berzerk sounded like at the beginning.
Either way, going back to Soli Deo Gloria means hearing a very different chapter of the band’s history.
Thirty-three years have passed. The music industry has changed, the technology has changed, and Apoptygma Berzerk themselves have travelled through several musical directions. Not everyone has agreed with every change along the way, and that’s hardly surprising for an artist who has never been content to repeat the same album indefinitely.
But whatever period of Apoptygma Berzerk you prefer, Soli Deo Gloria remains a key part of understanding the band.
It also reminds us that the records we grow attached to aren’t necessarily the most technically perfect ones. Sometimes it’s the rough edges, the unusual ideas and the atmosphere of a particular time that stay with us the longest.
And then there’s the personal side of music. A song can bring back a club you haven’t visited in decades, a friend you’ve lost touch with, or a period of your life you thought you’d forgotten. That’s something no remaster can improve upon.
For me, Soli Deo Gloria still brings back the excitement of discovering electronic music for the first time. And I suspect I’m far from the only one.
Thirty-three years after its release, Soli Deo Gloria is still more than an interesting piece of Norwegian electronic music history. For many listeners, it’s part of their own history, too.
Happy 33rd anniversary, Soli Deo Gloria. And to everyone who helped make it happen back in 1993: this record still matters.
About Apoptygma Berzerk
Apoptygma Berzerk was formed in Norway in 1989 by Stephan Groth and Jon Erik Martinsen, who departed early over creative differences. Groth has remained the band’s only constant member since, handling vocals, programming, guitar and samples. Per Aksel Lundgreen played keyboards between 1990 and 1994, and Anders Odden played guitar from 1992 to 1999 and again from 2003 to 2006, contributing to the band’s 1993 debut, “Soli Deo Gloria,” on Tatra Records.
Apoptygma Berzerk followed their debut with “7” in 1996, “Welcome to Earth” in 2000, featuring a cover of Metallica’s “Fade to Black,” and “Harmonizer” in 2002. “You and Me Against the World” followed, included covers of Kim Wilde’s “Cambodia” and The House of Love’s “Shine On.” “Rocket Science” arrived in 2009, and “Exit Popularity Contest” in 2016. The band has also recorded covers of Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence,” Suede’s “Trash” and Kraftwerk’s “Ohm Sweet Ohm,” among others.
The band’s current lineup comprises Groth alongside Audun Stengel on guitar, Ted Skogmann on drums and additional guitar, Jonas Groth on keyboards and production, and Leandra Ophelia Dax on keyboards. Apoptygma Berzerk’s catalog has been released through labels including Tatra Records, Metropolis Records and Artoffact Records, the latter issuing the 25th-anniversary “Soli Deo Gloria” reissue and the SDGXXV tribute project in 2018. The band marked founder Stephan Groth’s 55th birthday in 2025 alongside the 25th anniversary of the single “Kathy’s Song”, and most recently brought “Exit Popularity Contest” to digital streaming platforms.
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For almost 15 years I’ve been writing about music, interviewing artists and reviewing releases for Peek-A-Boo Magazine. Recently, I also launched my own WordPress website, where I continue to share interviews, reviews and news from the underground scene. The darker side of music has been part of my life for more than 30 years, with a passion for everything from ’80s synthpop and New Wave to EBM, Futurepop and dark electronic music in general. Also Metal and Rock is part of my world. Away from the scene, I work in a public library, where books are part of my everyday life. I enjoy both fiction and non-fiction, especially books on politics, religion, health and travel. I’m also a fan of thrillers and horror films. When I’m not listening to music or reading, you’ll usually find me exploring nature, enjoying a good sauna, experimenting with vegan cooking, or travelling to my second home, Finland. I’ve always believed the underground has the best stories. My job is simply to help tell them
