ZENO, named after the Greek philosopher Zeno of Citium, is a German act specialising in majestic Rock epics led by Jochen 'Joe' Roth. Unfortunately, upon the band's commercial arrival, the quality of their material was overlooked due to the unprecedented hype surrounding the first album. Both Roth and bassist Ule Winsome Ritgen had debuted with the 1974 act BLACK ANGEL. When this combo folded in 1977 Ritgen eventually wound up with Roth's elder bother, ex-SCORPIONS guitarist ULI JON ROTH, in the ELECTRIC SUN band. Here he would meet future ZENO vocalist Michael Flechsig (a.k.a. Michael Flexig).

Flechsig had previously been vocalist for COMBO COLOSSALE releasing one album in 1982 whilst Roth had been a member of Progressive Rockers KARTHAGO. As ZENO, the band's commercial dealings were handled by Archipelago Management, established by the notorious figure of erstwhile JUDAS PRIEST manager Dave Corke.

ZENO signed to EMI Records, for an enormous advance, following a label bidding war. Part of Dave Corke's strategy in attaining a deal was to invite all the major labels to meetings in a London hotel, timing their entrances and exits to coincide so as to make every interested party know they had stiff competition. The ploy worked and the battle by the major labels for ZENO was so fierce that Geffen Records had actually mailed an advance cheque before finding out the band had signed to EMI. The group was signed on the strength of demos alone, without EMI ever having seen the band live or even met them in person. Indeed, Flechsig still had to be persuaded to join the band at this juncture, his work on the demos only being on a session basis.

ZENO then proceeded to spend a year making their debut album. The group went through three producers before settling with Terry Manning. Featured musicians include drummer Stuart Elliot, of KATE BUSH and ALAN PARSONS PROJECT repute plus keyboard player DON AIREY of RAINBOW.

When it arrived, the album was slated in the press, the hype surrounding the band making them a somewhat inevitable target. Critics attacked the pomposity of the band's music, EMI's huge investment and even the band's logo, likened to an ice cream cone. In latter years music fans came to realise the record was actually a highly commendable piece of work and well worth hunting out.

DIXIE DREGS drummer Rod Morgenstein and keyboard player Larry Dvoskin were recruited for live work. ZENO played some ill matched British dates supporting BLACK SABBATH on their dismally attended 'Seventh Star' dates in the UK during May of 1986 and some festivals in Europe with QUEEN before embarking to North America to open for KROKUS and KEEL. Unfortunately the tour was cancelled after six shows due to poor upfront ticket sales for headliners KROKUS.

Although signed for a six album deal, ZENO was dropped by EMI shortly afterward, but produced two sets of demos for Geffen. In 1987 ZENO added drummer C.C. Behrens before splitting up.

Flechsig appeared as lead vocalist for the ECHOPARK solo project band put together by ELOY bassist Klaus-Peter Matziol and appears on the 1988 album 'Echopark' and 1995's 'Pretty Lies'. The latter also features guest guitar from Jochen Roth.

Ritgen formed Melodic Rock act FAIR WARNING to huge acclaim in Japan while Morgenstein went onto American success with WINGER prior to rejoining DIXIE DREGS and issuing a self titled solo jam album with DIXIE DREGS keyboard player Jordan Rudess

Meantime the myth of ZENO was fostered and in October of 1993 the debut album was re-released in Japan, quite incredibly selling over 25'000 copies. During 1994 Flechsig teamed up with ULI JON ROTH for dates in Europe in a vocal quartet that also included former TRAPEZE and RAINBOW vocalist Pete Goalby, JOHN PARR and Tommy Heart.

ZENO released their second album 'Zenology' in Japan during March of 1995 made up of demos featuring Flechsig and ex-V2 and FAIR WARNING vocalist Tommy Heart. The record surpassed it's predecessor clocking up 30'000 sales. MTM Music picked the recortd up for European release for release in September of the same year.

Demand was such that Roth was prompted into reconvening ZENO for a further 1998 release. Mainly comprising of early 80s material 'Listen To The Light' sold over 45'000 copies in its first week of release in Japan cracking the national charts. During April of 2004 all three ZENO albums to date were re-issued in Japan, all adding bonus tracks. Also arriving would be a compilation album of rarities 'Zenology II' through MTM Music in May of 2005.