Instrumental Riff-Rock Masters APE SHIFTER To Release Third Album ‘Monkey Business’
Since their inception in November 2015, APE SHIFTER has released two full-length albums and completed four European club tours encompassing Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and The Netherlands. They have shared the bill with Villagers of Ioannina City, Loudness, The Skull, White Cowbell Oklahoma, Baron Crane, AC/DC´s Chris Slade, and Mörglbl, among others. Festival performances have included Zytanien (main stage), Burg Herzberg Festival, OBOA, Free n Easy, ArtRock Festival, Fehmarn Open Air, Festival Kult!, and others.
On Friday, March 31, 2023, APE SHIFTER releases their third album Monkey Business. From rockin’ 70’s riffs played with punk rock ferocity to creeping metal grooves and all out bashers, APE SHIFTER gives new meaning to intense simian instrumental rock from the nasty pits of the Hellabrunn Zoo. Born on Friday the 13th in Washington, D.C. and raised in Laurel, Maryland, Jeff Aug is a cool underground guitarist who lives at the foothills of the Alps in Southern Germany for the last 20+ years. He has toured with Allan Holdsworth, Soft Machine, Greg Howe, Stu Hamm, Albert Lee, and has performed shows with Jawbox, Shudder To Think, and Ice-T & Bodycount with his old band. He’s worked with John Stabb from Government Issue, has been touring and recording with Anne Clark for the last 20+ years, and has been touring as a solo guitarist for the last 25+ years. Jeff can also be heard on the Atari Teenage Riot album “Is This Hyperreal?” (Dim Mak Records / Digital Hardcore Records). Jeff is also a Guinness™ world record holder, setting the world record for the “most concerts performed in different countries in 24 hours” twice (2009, 2012). Filling out the line-up is bass virtuoso Florian Walter from the band Less and drummer Kurty Münch known for his stint in the German punk band Rotting Carcass.
Watch the “Mind of You” video: https://youtu.be/4BjeSzLDVAI
Tracks
MPU 2:05
Stampede 2:14
Misery 3:08
Promises of a Progressive Future 4:21
Ahab 4:31
Dregs of Doom 4:07
Purple 2:21
Cure 1:57
Gucci, Baby! :15
Mind Of You 3:23
Shitkicker 4:27
Lying In Wait 6:57
Credits
Recorded in January 2022 at Sounzz in Seifen, Germany.
Mixed & Mastered by Tim Hecking.
Produced by APE SHIFTER.
Artwork, layout graphics, and cover photo by Chris Lakriz.
Back cover photo by Bernd Kuhn.
all compositions by Jeff Aug, arranged by Ape Shifter and published by Protozoa Music
Ape Shifter use Hipshot accessories, EVH/Charvel, Floyd Rose, D´Addario strings, Planet Waves cables, F&P, and Dunlop picks & guitar accessories. Ape Shifter wear Earebel.
(c) & (p) 2023 Brainstorm Records / Heavy Progressive Records.
LIVE
presented by ECLIPSED & Guitar Magazine
31.03.2023 DE-Ulm, Jugendtreff Hexenhaus
01.04.2023 DE-Immenstadt, TimeOut Jugendhaus
02.04.2023 AT-Salzburg, Rockhouse
03.04.2023 DE-Reutlingen, FranzK
08.04.2023 DE-Annaberg-Buchholz, Alte Brauerei
13.04.2023 AT-Graz, WAK
14.04.2023 HR-Zagreb, TBA
15.04.2023 SI-Ljbujlana, Channel Zero
21.04.2023 DE-Heilbronn, Emma23
22.04.2023 DE-Karlsruhe, KoHi
…to be continued…
What the press have said…
“Hard rockin’ guitar instrumentals that deliver a real PUNCH. Good solid stuff that’ll make the walls and floors SHAKE.” – BABYSUE.COM
“With no deficit of trios that drive metal wedge into fusion context, guitarist Jeff Aug has a special edge to stand out on: his experience in punk zip and acoustic flip alongside regular rock moves. All of this informs the American expat’s new venture whose debut, recorded in only two days to seize the moment’s immediacy, is a charming, if complex, endeavor.” – DMME.NET
“In some ways they remind me of Trapeze, at others Taste, with an overblown rich guitar sound, and the rhythm section just trying to hold it together while Jeff goes nuts. Sure, there are progressive influences here and there as well, but mostly this is about good solid Seventies instrumental rock, with the emphasis on ROCK.” –
Kev Rowland/Progarchives
“The eponymous debut album is filled with powerful electric compositions, riff-based over clear playing and drenched in a very pleasant, dirty sounding well of electric effects. Nasty post rock influenced songs with hunches of fusion, brought in the most beautiful way. Ape Shifter is a very strong instrumental rock album that shows elements from post to shred added with a QOTSA desert touch.” – Pedro Bekkers/BACKGROUND MAGAZINE Netherlands
“Hard hitting instrumental progressive rock that wears all the influences of the last 40 years of rock hell raising proudly on its sleeve. Merrily taking you from hell to heaven, this power trio just plain isn’t here to screw around. A crew of proven chopmeisters, this is where the real underground begins. Simply killer stuff.” –
“The album is an 11-track celebration of how prog rock sounds today. Chock full of all instrumental tracks, it brings together those rockin’ 70’s riffs, but here plays them off against a punk rock ferocity, adds in swirls of arching metal grooves, and presents an eclectic prog rock album quite like none I’ve encountered in the past decade.” – Exclusive Magazine
“Musically, (Jeff) Aug’s style of playing is very reminiscent of Joe Satriani, Gary Hoey, Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, with minor hints of Tony MacAlpine thrown in for good measure…there is not a single dull moment to be found here. The style of songwriting found here, is heavy at times, packed with plenty of catchy grooves, hooks, and an overall sound, which just gets you into the mood to rock out to Jeff’s talented and skillful playing.” – Sarjoo Devani, EXPLICITLYINTENSE.COM
“… shares a lot of DNA with fret wizards like Joe Satriani, Tony MacAlpine and Steve Vai. So it’s definitely one for the widdlers out there. It’s also on the heavy side with some chunky seventies styled riffs in there. Animalistic and aggressive are two ways to describe Ape Shifter a new intense, progressive and loud instrumental species of rock that is set to be uncaged upon the world…” – SIGHTSANDSOUNDSOFNOTE.COM
Pre-Order the album on CD and/or vinyl via e-mail at: info@MAXIMUMBooking.com
https://apeshifter.bandcamp.com/
Artist Management & Booking by MAXIMUM Booking: info@MAXIMUMBooking.com
For more information: www.ape-shifter-com, www.facebook.com/apeshifter/
