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Jun 30, 20234 min read

Krokus — Metal Rendez-vous

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…

43 years ago today, a “Metal Rendez-vous” made these former Prog. Rockers an almost overnight Heavy Metal sensation!

On this day (June 30) in 1980, Krokus released their fourth full-length studio album, “Metal Rendez-vous” via Areola Records.

Background:

“Metal Rendez-vous” is the first Krokus release to feature vocalist Marc Storace; Chris von Rohr had formerly served as the band's lead vocalist but appears on the album as the band's bassist.

Although an able frontman, von Rohr was not the singer Krokus needed. While the search began for a specialist lead vocalist, von Rohr and Fernando von Arb hunkered down to write a set of tunes to either make or break the band’s dreams.

Seven of the songs on “Metal Rendez-vous”; "Heatstrokes", "Bedside Radio", "Streamer", "Shy Kid", "Tokyo Nights", "Lady Double Dealer", and "Fire" - along with an eighth song, titled "Sweet Inspiration", were painstakingly demoed, fine-tuned and, where necessary, torn apart and rebooted before being laid down with their new singer Henry Fries, who fronted the band for a period in 1978/'79. But then disaster struck when, with the album ready for release, the news that Fries was abandoning Switzerland for a new life in Italy was dropped on them like a bombshell.

The Fries demos are available digitally on iTunes under the name Henry Fries & Friends (link below).

For his replacement, Krokus sought out Marc Storace, a Maltese native, who they’d seen with a rival Swiss band named Tea. After quitting Tea, Storace had moved to London to form a group called Eazy Money, whose track Telephone Man was included on the second volume of the NWOBHM sampler “Metal For Muthas”.

“Tea had made such strange music, but Marc’s voice was brilliant,” von Rohr enthuses. “We wanted someone to hit that third octave, who could sing high but without forcing it. He took a lot of convincing to move back to Switzerland, and also to sing the music we were making. In the beginning at least [the relationship] was tough and there were a lot of fights.”

“Eazy Money had been about to sign a deal with Chrysalis Records and they wanted to send us to America to tour with Genesis, so joining Krokus meant abandoning two and a half years of work,” Storace explains now, citing the dexterity of Krokus guitarist Tommy Keifer as a deciding factor.

“He was playing like a god,” Storace says. “What Tommy did on “Fire” and “Tokyo Nights” are two of the best guitar solos ever. I remember telling my wife that this was a band that could keep me in work for the next decade,” Storace continues. “And without sounding boastful, I like to think my vocals were a part of taking things to the next level."

Confirming the faith of all concerned, the fourth Krokus album was greeted by a wave of enthusiasm in the summer of 1980. Almost overnight “Metal Rendez-vous” transformed a group known only by an elite few into the name on the lips of your average headbanger.

From the surging, fist-in-the-air strains of its opening anthem “Heatstrokes” to the super-hummability of “Bedside Radio” and the hard-edged boogie of “Back-Seat Rock ‘N’ Roll”, here was an album full of unpretentious swagger, understated melody and delicious brutal force. Noting the similarity between the voices of Storace and AC/DC’s Bon Scott, Sounds magazine’s Paul Suter called it “a total blood-boiling, skull-crushing Metal tour-de-force”. — (excerpts from the 2020 article “The curious case of Krokus” at loudersound.com)

Certifications:

The track "Heatstrokes" charted at number one on the British Heavy Metal Charts, and arguably opened up markets for Krokus in Britain and the United States, along with "Bedside Radio" and "Tokyo Nights". Strangely, the song "Tokyo Nights" features a reggae beat halfway through. The album sold more than 150,000 copies in Switzerland and was certified Triple Platinum.

Noteworthy:

In 1982, Fries and fellow Krokus alumni, Jürg Naegeli and Tommy Kiefer, would release the album “Downtown Cocktail” under the name Henry Freis & The Cityleaders.

Metal Rendez-vous Tour:

Krokus toured with future Metal Blade Records recording artist Bitch to promote the album.

While on tour, Krokus played the Reading Rock Festival in 1980, which also featured Iron Maiden, UFO, Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Gary Moore's G-Force, Ozzy Osbourne's Blizzard of Ozz, Girl (featuring future LA Guns frontman Phil Lewis and future Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collin), and Tygers of Pan Tang.

Below, you can see photos of Krokus at the Reading Rock Festival.

Links to Artists, Albums, and Music Videos:

Click this link to listen to “Metal Rendez-vous” via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/metal-rendez-vous/285002476

Click this link to listen to the Henry Fries & Friends demo’s “Real Swissrock 1979” via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/real-swissrock-1979/554555535

Click this link to follow Krokus on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KROKUSonline

Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells

Krokus — Metal Rendez-vous

Background:

Certifications:

Noteworthy:

Metal Rendez-vous Tour:

Links to Artists, Albums, and Music Videos:

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