Biography
Anorexia Nervosa (full name Anorexia Nervosa the Nihilistic Orchestra) was formed in 1995 from the ashes of a death metal band called Necromancia whose line-up consisted of Stefan Bayle (guitar), Marc Zabé (guitar), Pier Couquet (bass), Nilcas Vant (drums) and Stéphane Gerbaud (vocals). As Necromancia they produced a demo in 1993, Garden of Delight. At that time, the band was playing industrial death metal with elements of dark wave which gave it ambience. A second demo, Nihil Negativum, gave Anorexia Nervosa its place in the underground world. The demo featured the dark, industrial atmosphere that their album Exile was later known for. During a concert in the south of France, Michael Berberian, from Season of Mist Records, noticed the band and offered them a contract for an album. Exile, was released in 1997. Reminiscent of their previous work, Nihil Negativum, Exile had an eerily industrial sound to it, and often switched between fast tempos and thrashing guitars back to a slow, ambient style consisting of only a "white noise" - like sound lightly draped over grim vocals. Not only was the album unique in the history of the band, but in the entire black metal genre itself. Being a concept album, Exile based itself on themes of neurosis and experimentation on madness. Twenty-four hundred copies of the album were sold, allowing access to a larger audience and onto a series of concerts with Cradle of Filth, Absu, Misanthrope, amongst others.
They left the label after the release of Exile, and replaced Gerbaud and Zabé with new singer RMS Hreidmarr and keyboardist Neb Xort. They then pursued a new, self-described, "dark nihilistic metal" direction featuring a very fast, hysterical and powerfully orchestrated sound, with second album Sodomizing the Archangel, recorded at the band's own Drudenhaus Studio and released by Osmose Productions in 1999. They followed this with the Drudenhaus album (2000), which was released in March 2000, and proved to be a huge success for the band.
Further evolving the style was their 2001 release, New Obscurantis Order, which proved to be their most groundbreaking release to date, involving even faster tempos, more polished orchestrations and an all-around more violent sound. They toured all over Europe with the likes of Cradle of Filth, and Rotting Christ, by now an established symphonic black metal band. Anorexia Nervosa then went on hiatus for three years, returning with a new album, Redemption Process in 2004, now on Listenable Records. The album is not as frantic as New Obscurantis Order, but features richer orchestrations and more of a "raw" sound. Redemption Process is a concept album that focuses on lyrics about finding redemption.
Approximately one year later, the band released The September E.P. which features a director's cut of Sister September, three cover tracks, and four live tracks. The EP was released to be a "goodie" from the band until they are ready to record their next studio album.
On December 20, 2005, vocalist Rose Hreidmarr quit the band. His statement on the matter reads as follows:
"Leaving Anorexia Nervosa was definitely not the easiest thing to do as we've shared so much during our time together as this band had become a vivid part of my daily life. For seven years, the band has been giving me so many opportunities on a musical and human level and has heavily contributed to become the person I'm today. Still, I honestly thought I had reached the end of a personal era with the album 'Redemption Process' and I now feel the need to take a different path. I'm also absolutely proud of what I have been able to achieve with the rest of the band members who will always remain my best friends and I wish them the very best for the future."
Soon afterwards, the remaining band members held auditions for a new singer, but failure to find a replacement has caused guitarist Stefan Bayle to put the band in "stand-by" mode, fearing the group may become "some sort of parody" of itself. It remains unknown when, or if the band may resurface.
Since his departure from Anorexia Nervosa, Rose Hreidmarr has been singer for The Cosa Nostra Klub, a black/industrial metal band.
Stefan Bayle and Neb Xort also participated in Jensara Swann and Ben Notox's band The Veil, both on their first album "Sleeping Among Serpents", released in 2006 and as session musicians for their first concerts. Neb Xort is still involved with the band as producer, and engineered The Veil's second album "Vestige" in 2008, and Ad Inferna's Trance N Dance in 2009. Bayle produced The Cosa Nostra Klub's second album, L'Hymne la Joie, in 2007.
Read more about this topic: Anorexia Nervosa (band)
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