Instrumental Riff-Rock Masters Ape Shifter To Release Sophomore Album APE SHIFTER II

Since releasing their self-titled debut in March 2017, APE SHIFTER have completed two European club tours encompassing Germany, Switzerland, and The Netherlands. They have shared the bill with Loudness, The Skull, White Cowbell Oklahoma, and Mörglbl, among others. Festival performances have included Zytanien (main stage), Burg Herzberg Festival, OBOA, Free n Easy, Festival Kult!, and others.

On Friday, March 29, 2019, APE SHIFTER release their follow-up album to their debut with their sophomore release APE SHIFTER II.

From rockin' 70's riffs played with punk rock ferocity to creeping metal grooves and all out bashers, APE SHIFTER give 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 15+ 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)!

Featuring:

Jeff Aug : guitar

Florian Walter : bass

Kurty Münch : drums

Side 1

01 GRAVITY

02 HASKETT

03 MASK OF THE ANCIENT WARRIOR

04 SHOEGAZER

05 AMERICAN EAGLE

06 7 YEARS FAT, 7 YEARS LEAN

Side 2

07 DIE RAUSSCHMEIßER

08 FU MANCHU

09 8 SHOT

10 NO CHORDS ALLOWED, JONATHAN

11 STEVEN AVERY IS INNOCENT

12 JIGGY JIGGY BOOM BOOM

13 MATILDA

Recorded on 29./30.June and 01.July 2018 by Tim Hecking at Sounzz in Seifen, Germany.

Mixed in Fall 2018 by Alec Empire at The Hellish Vortex Studios in Berlin, Germany.

Mastered by Calyx in Berlin, Germany.

Artwork & layout graphics by Chris Lakriz.

Band photos by Andreas Tittmann.

all compositions by Jeff Aug (except "Gravity" by Aug, Münch, and Walter) and published by Protozoa Music.

Violin on "Matilda" performed by Kilian Kayser.

RELEASE FORMATS:

APE SHIFTER I & II Double Vinyl (Ape Shifter I & II as one double-vinyl set!)

APE SHIFTER II CD

APE SHIFTER II Digital

APE SHIFTER Tour Dates:

Here's what the press has said about APE SHIFTER:

"Hard rockin' guitar instrumentals that deliver a real PUNCH. Good solid stuff that'll make the walls and floors SHAKE." - http://www.babysue.com/2017-Aug-LMNOP-Reviews.html#anchor160774

"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." - http://dmme.net/ape-shifter-ape-shifter/

"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, 05.05.2017

"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 (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) http://www.backgroundmagazine.nl/CDreviews/ApeShifterApeShifter.html

"Hard hitting instrumental progressive rock that wears all the influences of the last 40 years of rock hell raising proudly on it's 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." - MIDWEST RECORD, http://www.midwestrecord.com/MWR1190.html

"'Ape Shifter' 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 http://annecarlini.com/ex_cd.php?id=2196

"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 are 11 cuts of groove and riff powered instrumentals on this self titled debut album, and 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, http://www.explicitlyintense.com/reviews/cd-review/ape-shifter-instrumental-rock-music-album/

"... 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." - http://www.the-rocker.co.uk/

"The trio does a fantastic job in terms of displaying stupendous musicianship. There's sincere chemistry and understanding all over the place, but the real charm here are the visceral landscapes the threesome projects, thus making this not just another clinically executed exercise in pretentious overindulgence, but a musical essay enhanced with passion and grit. The album's hallmarks - drums shifting time signatures, face slapping bass lines and crusty guitars are all present and correct. Each of these 11 songs offers an intriguing snapshot of the enormous breadth of talent. But perhaps the biggest achievement of this album is that although it's an instrumental record, there's not a dull moment to be found. 8 out of 10." - http://www.therocktologist.com/ape-shifter---ape-shifter.html

"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..." http://www.sightsandsoundsofnote.com/