Formed in Solothurn, Switzerland, Krokus appeared in 1974 playing symphonic rock similar to Yes, Genesis and Emerson, Lake And Palmer. After four years and two rather lacklustre albums, they switched to a hard rock style and dropped the frills in favour of a back-to-basics approach in the mode of AC/DC. The most stable early line-up of the band featured Chris Von Rohr (vocals), Fernando Von Arb (guitar), Jörg Nägeli (bass), Tommy Kiefer (guitar) and Freddy Steady (drums). The songs were formulaic numbers based on simple riffs and predictable choruses that were chanted repeatedly. With Von Rohr’s voice lacking the necessary vocal range, he stepped down to become the bass player in favour of new arrival ‘Maltezer’ Marc (b. Marc Storace, 7 October 1951, Sliema, Malta; ex-Tea). Nägeli occasionally played keyboards and subsequently took over the technical side of the band. Metal Rendez-vous was the turning point in the band’s career; released in 1980, it was heavier than anything they had done before and coincided with the resurgence of heavy metal in Britain.
They played the Reading Festival in 1980 and were well received, and their next two albums continued with an aggressive approach, though they streamlined their sound to make it more radio-friendly. Hardware and One Vice At A Time both reached the US and UK album charts. Before Headhunter materialized, a series of personnel changes took place, with the replacement of Kiefer with ex-roadie Mark Kohler and Steve Pace taking over drums from Freddy Steady. Produced by Tom Allom, Headhunter’s high-speed, heavy-duty approach propelled it to number 25 in the Billboard album charts.
Kohler took over bass from the departed Von Rohr (he returned briefly in the late 80s) and Jeff Klaven replaced the temporarily absent Pace on The Blitz, an erratic album that reached number 31 on the US chart mainly on the strength of its predecessor. Tommy Keiser (ex-Cobra) was brought in on bass on the follow-up Change Of Address, with Kohler returning to his role as rhythm guitarist. Despite a switch of labels to MCA Records, there was a continuing downward trend in the band’s fortunes during the late 80s, with their personnel in a constant state of flux. Von Arb and the other members subsequently put the band on hold to work on solo projects.
The band’s music progressed little during the 90s, still relying heavily on the legacy of AC/DC and the Scorpions. Peter Tanner took over from Storace on lead vocals for their first album of the new decade, Stampede. The line-up at this point comprised sole remaining founder member Von Arb, Many Maurer (bass), Tony Castell (guitar), and Peter Haas (drums). Von Arb successfully fought a lymphoma scare to record 1995’s To Rock Or Not To Be with Maurer and Krokus stalwarts Storace, Kohler and Freddy Steady. Yet another round of personnel changes preceded 1999’s Round 13, with Von Arb and Maurer joined by Haas, Carl Sentance (vocals) and Chris Lauper (guitar). Dave Stettler replaced Lauper the following year. Storace returned to the line-up in 2002, but Von Arb was forced to retire in 2005 due to problems with his writst.
