This album was a big turning point in the career of this five-piece band. Produced by Joey Balin and recorded in Philadelphia, it was the first international production by AXXIS.
In the following years AXXIS had traveled thousands of miles. One if the most impressive destinations was Japan, where Bernhard Weiss and guitarist Walter Pietsch performed a couple of acoustic live shows due to the release of the Japanese only CD "Profile". The band became known worldwide!
The album "Matters Of Survival" was produced in Los Angeles in 1995, the city of angels which is uncritically praised as a Metal capitol by some, a city where glamor, violence and homelessness live together very closely. An impression, which was responsible for the choice of the album title.
With Keith Olsen (FLEETWOOD MAC, WHITESNAKE, FOREIGNER, SCORPIONS) the band had a producer who had already worked in the biz since 25 years. Olsen had visited the band in Germany first and both together chose the 12 best songs from the original 30 demo tracks and committed the arrangements. Afterwords they flew over to Los Angeles where Olsen is running his Goodnight L.A.-Studio.
AXXIS especially see themselves as a live band. At a perfect gig, as Bernhard Weiss once said, the own hands have to glow. "It is the best possibility to play your music", says Weiss, "already alone because of the chance of getting so close to your fans." So, the performances at "Rock am Ring" in front of 30 000 spectators were for sure important highlights of the years 1994 and 1996!
To keep on moving into new directions was a principle which this Hard Rock band from the "Ruhrgebiet" had always followed. If you have a look on “Kingdom Of The Night” (`89), “Axxis II” (`91), “The Big Thrill “(`93), “Matters Of Survival” (`95) or “Voodoo Vibes” (97), the latest album by the band, they had always avoided to repeat themselves.
AXXIS do, of course, have their basic sound, their roots are lying within the traditional Heavy Rock of the 70's and 80's, they have found their very own style which is orientated on hooks like "Living In A World". This song is still regarded as a hymn at every show and, as Walter says, the best example for a typical AXXIS song. Bernard's unique vocal style is another characteristic trademark, which makes AXXIS' sound unique. But the cover on these basics is very different anytime. The permanent move can be found within the details.
AXXIS' major ambition is, as Walter adds, "to be a pure Rock 'n' Roll band", and to wash away any doubt, “Voodoo Vibes” became the most Rockin' album since the very early days. The heavy guitars remind the listener a lot on the intensive “Punch” of the debut album.
The production this time was done by the band itself for the very first time. After those great lessons in the US by highly skilled producers, AXXIS felt strong enough to handle the complex studio technics alone and to take over the responsibility for it themselves. "The idea for this was invented by our label", says Harry. "We had already produced our demos for a long time before. And as we presented our new demo tapes to our A&R manager, he was not only convinced by the quality of our new material but of the sound of this supposedly rehearsal room recordings as well. He told us to put it on the album as it was. But the songs and especially the vocals weren't completed yet at the time and that was the reason why the idea came up to let us mix it up ourselves. Because of our demos our label gained a lot of confidence in our abilities to produce an album."
Confidence which was confirmed. “Voodoo Vibes”, produced by Bemhard, Walter and Harry with the help of co-producer and engineer Thomas Kemper at Dierks Studios in the outskirts of Cologne, offers a straight and powerful sound from the beginning to the end which couldn't had been done better by an American star producer. The fact that those complete recordings were finished after only 18 days in the studio is a proof for the band's reliability, who according to Walter, "had a little fear to do the job right in the beginning. The band had to deal with new aspects like being responsible for a recording budget and to be judged for anything that might have gone wrong. But finally everything worked perfectly" and it worked so well that AXXIS would like to repeat it again when starting to record the next album. This self-determination will not be missed in the future anymore...
Current Line-Up:
Bernhard Weiß – Vocal
Harry Oellers – Keys
Marco Wriedt – Guitar
Rob Schomaker – Bass
André Hilgers - Drums
Previous members:
Kosta Zafiriou – Drums (on “Time Machine“)
Richard Michalski – Drums (on “Kingdom Of The Night”, “Axxis II”, “Access All Areas”, “The Big Thrill”, “Profile-The Best of Axxis”, “Matters of Survival”, “Voodoo Vibes”, “Sarajevo Exklusiv”, “Back To The Kingdom“, “Collection Of Power” & “Eyes Of Darkness”)
Walter Pietsch – Guitars (on “Kingdom Of The Night”, “Axxis II”, “Access All Areas”, “The Big Thrill”, “Profile-The Best of Axxis”, “Matters of Survival”, “Voodoo Vibes” & “Sarajevo Exklusiv”)
Markus Gfeller – Bass (on “The Big Thrill”, “Profile-The Best of Axxis”, “Matters of Survival”, “Voodoo Vibes” & “Sarajevo Exklusiv”)
Werner Kleinhans – Bass (on “Kingdom Of The Night”, “Axxis II” & “Access All Areas”)
The official site:
http://www.axxis.de
History (english):
http://www.axxis.de/eng_history.html
Face To Face
Axxis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But not those awful days
When you're a man without grace
A soldier without a face
No one really knows the truth
About blood on glorious shoes
About a million killing hands
About lonely dying friends
And in your dreams you see them die
Up to this day you see their eyes open wide
[Chorus:]
Face to face with their death
And with only memories left
In those moments full of pain
You feel like you're goin' insane
Your memories still exist
The bad dreams still resist
No one can imagine this-you know
When their thoughts are as white as snow
But in a war all the snow is red
Red with blood of all the dead
Only one thought lets you live on
Through those days
[Chorus:]
Face to face with their death
And with only memories left
In those moments full of pain
You feel like you're goin insane
The lyrics of Axxis's song "Face to Face" delve into the psychological torture and trauma that soldiers go through in war. The opening lines describe how some memories may fade away, but not those of the awful and traumatic days of war - when a soldier's humanity and grace are stripped away, and they are left becoming just another faceless soldier.
The next lines speak of the unspoken horror of war, the idea that no one ever truly knows the truth about the bloodshed and killings, and the fact that soldiers are left facing the ghosts of the memories of the men they have killed, and the friends they have lost to war. The haunting lines that "every night you hear them cry, and in your dreams you see them die" bring home the horror of living with PTSD, a condition that many soldiers face, and which Axxis portrays with devastating power.
The chorus of the song brings home the PTSD trauma of a face-to-face encounter with death and the feeling of being left with memories of pain and fear that can drive one insane. The final verse speaks of how these memories continue to exist years, even decades after the war has ended, and how no one can imagine the horror unless they go through it themselves. The lyrics act as an ode to soldiers who have suffered the trauma of war, and their pain and struggle to come to terms with the atrocities they have witnessed.
Line by Line Meaning
A lot of memories fade away
Many memories tend to disappear over time
But not those awful days
However, some memories stay with us forever
When you're a man without grace
When you're in a desperate, hopeless situation
A soldier without a face
When you're fighting faceless, anonymous enemies
No one really knows the truth
Nobody knows the true horror of war
About blood on glorious shoes
About the terrible price of victory
About a million killing hands
About the many people who have died in battle
About lonely dying friends
About the heartbreaking loss of comrades
And every night you hear them cry
The memories of the fallen haunt you every night
And in your dreams you see them die
You relive their deaths every night in your dreams
Up to this day you see their eyes open wide
The memories of their final moments are still vivid in your mind
[Chorus:] Face to face with their death
Confronting the reality of death in battle
And with only memories left
The only thing that remains are memories of those who are gone
In those moments full of pain
In the midst of the agony of loss
You feel like you're goin' insane
It feels like you're losing your mind
Your memories still exist
The memories of the fallen still persist
The bad dreams still resist
The nightmares of their deaths still haunt you
No one can imagine this-you know
Nobody who hasn't experienced it can understand
When their thoughts are as white as snow
When people who haven't experienced war have pure, innocent thoughts
But in a war all the snow is red
In war, innocence is lost and everything becomes stained with blood
Red with blood of all the dead
Blood of countless fallen soldiers and civilians litters the battlefield
Only one thought lets you live on
The thought of those who have died keeps you going
[Chorus:] Face to face with their death
Confronting the reality of death in battle
And with only memories left
The only thing that remains are memories of those who are gone
In those moments full of pain
In the midst of the agony of loss
You feel like you're goin insane
It feels like you're losing your mind
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BERNHARD WEISS, WALTER PIETSCH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind