The history of Rizon

The beginning...

Rizon was founded as a school band in May 1977 by Mattias Götz (vocals), Christian Götz (guitar) and Marco Küderli (keyboards), with Marcel Hodel on bass guitar and René Hupjan playing drums. At that time they were playing cover songs while beginning to write their own music. During this early period there were frequent changes in the line-up which, to some extent, hindered the development of the band. By the time Tom Lindegger joined as drummer in 2001 ...

The history of Rizon

The beginning...

Rizon was founded as a school band in May 1977 by Mattias Götz (vocals), Christian Götz (guitar) and Marco Küderli (keyboards), with Marcel Hodel on bass guitar and René Hupjan playing drums. At that time they were playing cover songs while beginning to write their own music. During this early period there were frequent changes in the line-up which, to some extent, hindered the development of the band. By the time Tom Lindegger joined as drummer in 2001 they were playing largely their own compositions. Tom began shaping the rhythm section using his intense and diverse style, a crucial step forward. With the additions of Jim Dodd (bass), John Wardle (guitar) and Franziska Germann (vocals), Rizon`s distinctive sound began to emerge. The resulting mixture of energetic rhythms, harmonic guitars and symphonic keys overlayed with powerful male/female vocals led the band to christen the sound “Melodic Power Rock”.

Evolution 2005

During the recording of their debut album “Evolution”, John Wardle left the band and was replaced by Mark Wietlisbach (former Leroy, Steve Whitney Band and Purple Lizard guitarist). Mark recorded the lead solos, adding a new style and resonance to compliment the rhythm guitars. The finished album was released, and Rizon went on to perform at well known venues including: Alpenrock House-Kloten, Rock City-Uster and Dynamo in Zürich.

Sudden Life 2008

In the spring of 2008, the band worked on their second album “Sudden Life” at “HOFA” studios in Karlsruhe,Germany with producer Dennis Ward (Krokus,Alannah Myles etc). It was released under the “Karthago Records” Label. Following the release party in October at Dynamo Werk 21 in Zürich, they embarked on a short tour of Switzerland taking in venues such as Z7 in Pratteln, supporting “Tyketto”, The Rock City in Uster, The Tibis club in Bern and once again the Alpenrock House. After about twenty concerts, the final show was staged on the 12th of December at the “Old Casino” Wettingen. This was the last concert together with Franziska, who then parted company with the band. She was replaced a few months later by Seraina Telli, completing the current line-up.

Masquerade 2012

After an intense period of songwriting in 2010, the band recorded in spring until summer 2011 thirteen new songs in their own "Ringstufios", which were grown in the meantime to about 100 square-meters and are located in Volketswil ZH. The concept of the double-leaded vocals was consequently developed further and the female vocals gained more space on the new songs compared to Evolution and Sudden Life.

The new album "Maquerade" was this time accomplished in the far north of Europe: Nino Laurenne from the Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki mixed the album. Nino did mix and produce beside his own band Thundestone several well known acts, such as Apokalyptika, Lordi, Amorphis and many others. The mastering was done by Svante Forsbäck in the Chartmakers Studios in Helsinki. Svante did bands with huge international success, such as Rammstein, Sonata Arctica and Sunrise Avenue. The album "Masquerade" is released, after the fusion of "Karthago-Records" with "Pure Steel Records", in winter 2012 under the new label "Pure Rock Records".