Biography
Chapter 1
SARIS founded back in 1981 by Derk Akkermann and until 1983 they toured extensively in their native Germany, as well as releasing the single “Out of Your Night”.
For the next few years band members worked on parallel projects while developing a new sound for the next big release. In 1992, a new line-up was in place to record their new album “Dead End Street” in 1993 which brought the band back on the road for an extensive tour.
Chapter 2
Following the departure of both the drummer and bassist it took some years before replacements were found, but in 1998, Lutz Günther (bass) and Achim Schmidt (drums, keyboards) joined Saris and continued to develop new material which sadly through a serious of personal and business issues saw the band back on ice for number of years.
Chapter 3
In 2006, Akkermann, Schmidt and Günther rebuilt the band for a new album this time with two new singers, Anja Günther and Thomas Hackmann who brought a new identity and sound. Subsequent studio sessions and writing led to a the new album “Curse of Time” which was released to critical acclaim in 2009.
The new mix of neo-progressive rock and hard rock created a whole new momentum for Saris but on May 23rd 2009 disaster struck, when Achim Schmidt suddenly passed away after suffering a pulmonary embolism. SARIS had no choice but to cancel the scheduled European and USA-tours.
Chapter 4
Derk Akkermann decided to continue SARIS as a studio project with Anja Günther and Lutz Günther joining him and wrote new songs for a third album. With many pressing international professional engagements Thomas Hackmann continued this time with backing vocals along with Anja Günther and Lutz Günther and for the lead vocals, Henrik Wager joined the band. Henrik, born in Manchester (GB), who after studying at the "School of Performing Arts" and the conservatory in Birmingham had worked extensively throughout Europe for various music projects, as a singer, songwriter and producer.
On drums, SARIS was complemented by the experienced and respected drummer and percussionist Jens Beckmann, who joined the forthcoming album projects amongst all his studio and session work and coaching.
There was finally a creative flow in the following years with three albums keeping this same lineup.
"Until We Have Faces” (2014), "Ghosts Of Yesterday” (2017) and "Beyond The Rainbow" (2020) were recorded both at SARIS own studio and at the "Principal Studios" where they were also mixed and mastered. Engineer and co-producer Joerg Umbreit gave these albums a new dimension. The result is a big, international production with first class hard rock AOR vocal lines, neo-progressive instrumental passages and Saris' typical symphonic melodies.
Chapter 5
Looking to evolve both the sound and creative possibilities after "Beyond The Rainbow," Derk Akkermann decided to share the songwriting responsibilities with other musicians. Bringing Henrik Wager on board as lyricist and helping develop the melodic content resulted in new material with a new sound for a future album. This collaboration between Akkermann and Wager defines the new partnership and foundation for Saris and will release further albums as a project with guest musicians under the SARIS banner.
The first of these projects is now the sixth SARIS album
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