News | Sign Up | Tour | Band | Bio | Music | Video | Gallery | Merch | Guestbook | Links | Contact Ascraeus | Webmaster

The Story So Far... Ascraeus formed out of the ashes of Istanbul / Turkey with Emir Erkal (guitars/programming), Tolga "Zubuk" Yukseloglu (lead vocals), Ahmet "Amor" Akyatan (bass) and Ozgu "Sari" Koyluc (drums) in April 1993. The name Ascraeus is derived from the highest mountain on the planet Mars, which was the name of the outfit that Erkal (who is originally from Istanbul) led in Istanbul before moving to New Jersey. Their debut album "DARE TO LIVE" was released by Hades Rec. in December 1994. And after that succesful debut, which got great reviews and brought the band on a mini-tour, they signed to ADA Rec. for the second album "RED". It was released in July 1997. Initially, they used to play bay area sound thrash metal, but later on they have progressed towards a different sound. When Emir and Tolga entered the studio to find some new tunes for the new album "Red", they noticed that new riffs coming out were much more different than the old ones, then they started working on this new sound. The first step was the "Red" album. Then in November 1998, it happened to be that the band was already in the studio again recording their third album "DISGUST". Recording, mixing and mastering the album took place from November 1998 to February 1999. They have put a lot of effort into their work in the studio and things between them and the producer worked out just great resulting in 10 blistering songs with a very individual touch. "If you take the speed and power of the eighties thrash scene like Slayer, Pantera, and combine it with the best of today's new breed metal scene like Machine Head, Fear Factory, Korn, and then you have ASCRAEUS." says Emir. One thing in common for their musical universe is the desire for good, depressive, sad melodies and heavy distorted guitars. Aggressive energy and explosive live performances has secured a legion of dedicated fans worldwide. In 1999 when OVERKILL toured Istanbul; Ascraeus was also the headliner. With the December 2001 release of DISGUST; Ascraeus is currently planning a U.S.A. tour in 2002 with dates and venues to be announced. DISGUST 2001 The album is filled with exciting aggression and high-speed techno breaks and an enlightening combination of hard, punky breakbeats veering toward a unique sort of nu metal. All the songs are incredibly strong and each of them stand out as extremely well composed. The mixture of shredding guitars, relentless destructive and powerful drumming, hateful and aggressive vocals, merge with complex arrangements to complete this long awaited follow up release. Their hit "Chaos in Istanbul" deals with the harshness of urban life and the resulting anger and frustration you can hear on the streets. ASCRAEUS are questioning the wrongs done and the truths not done, the unnecessary fights between nations, the unnecessary nervousness and boring behaviours of people, and everybody who is far away from himself/herself and who is creating colourless worlds. And ASCRAEUS are talking about the DISGUST to all of these in this album. Disgust received worldwide acclaim in the international Press from countries such as Japan, Germany, Holland, Belgium, United Kingdom, Lithuania, Columbia.

Copyright Ascraeus (c) 1999-2001. E-mail to webmaster