Axxis
Coming Home
Today, AXXIS stands as one of the most enduring and influential hard rock bands in Germany. Their sixteenth studio album once again solidifies the band's exceptional status. And with COMING HOME, the AXXIS circle is closing. The two masterminds, Bernhard WeiSS and Harry Oellers, have led AXXIS through highs and lows since the 90s, allowing them to look back on a solid 35 years of band career, especially with their loyal fans. With the release of the new album on July 12, 2024, on their own label, this chapter comes to a close. AXXIS will release their final album and embark on a tour in the fall of 2024, including two major anniversary shows - returning home, indeed. On the new album, the band returns to its roots without neglecting the evolution of recent years. With fresh, catchy songs like the title track or "Moonlight Bay," as well as fantasy-themed tracks like "Atlantica" or "Legends of Phantasia," the emotional ballad "Dark Angel," or the band's typical feel-good anthem "Irish Way Of Life," the band sets new standards. They've also experimented by releasing all the album's songs in three versions. The original versions are only on the CD, while a mixture of both versions is on the vinyl. In the streaming realm, through their own label PHONOTRAXX, they release the so-called "Compact Versions" (cv). The album is rounded off by the epic cover artwork by Thomas Ewerhart. "As always, the lyrics are graphically incorporated into the cover," explains singer Bernhard Weiss. "The Dark Angel, a being of machine, animal head, and warrior human, holds a baby protectively in its arms. The idea behind it: AXXIS is our baby, which, in the arms of AI in animal form and a world of destruction, fake news, untruths, sees hardly a chance to creatively reach or improve this world with its texts full of messages of peace, climate protection, freedom, and justice, as we imagined it as young people in 1989." "It's obvious," concludes Oellers, "to ceremoniously end the 35 years of AXXIS and close the AXXIS circle in 2024 with the album 'COMING HOME.' So this production was something special for us. It was important for us to once again pack all facets that define AXXIS musically into the songs. We took our time to produce the songs optimally in our in-house Soundworxx Studios." With a discography spanning over three decades and a reputation for unforgettable live experiences, the quintet has left an indelible mark on the world of music.