Anorexia Nervosa is a French symphonic black metal band from Limoges, formed in 1991. They are currently "on hold" due to the departure of vocalist RMS Hreidmarr.
Biography
Anorexia Nervosa (full name Anorexia Nervosa the Nihilistic Orchestra) was formed in 1991 as Necromancia, with a line-up consisting of Stéphane Bayle (guitar), Marc Zabé (guitar), Pierre Couquet (bass), Nilcas Vant (drums) and Stéphane Gerbaud (vocals). As Necromancia they produced a demo in 1993, The Garden of Delight. A second demo, Nihil Negativum, gave Anorexia Nervosa its place in the underground metal scene. 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 a dark industrial sound to it. Not only was the album unique in the history of the band, but in the broader black metal genre itself. 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.</blockquote>
Soon afterwards, the remaining band members held auditions for a new singer, but failure to find a replacement has caused guitarist Stéphane Bayle to put the band in "stand-by" mode, fearing the group may become "some sort of parody" of itself. A decade following the start of their hiatus, their future still remains unclear.
Since his departure from Anorexia Nervosa, Rose Hreidmarr has been singer for The Cosa Nostra Klub, a black/industrial metal band. In 2018, he also became the singer for the white supremacist black metal group Baise ma hache.
Stéphane 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.
Musical style
In the band's early days as Necromancia, the band played death metal, exemplified on their demo The Garden of Delight; but began to incorporate elements of industrial metal in their sound, which laid the basis for the dissonant and experimental sound on their debut album, Exile, which often switched between fast tempos and thrashing guitars back to a slow, ambient style, complemented with a grim vocal delivery. Nonetheless, with the departure of original vocalist Stéphane Gerbaud and the entry of R.M.S. Hreidmarr, the band went through a seismic genre shift, abandoning their early industrial death metal sound for a symphonic black metal sound, comparable to Cradle of Filth, which is considered the band's signature sound.
The band's debut, Exile, a concept album, based itself on themes of neurosis and experimentation on madness. Violence and depression would largely feature as the main source of the band's lyricism. However, Redemption Process is a concept album that focuses on lyrics about finding redemption.
Band members
Final lineup
- Stéphane Bayle: guitar (1995–2005)
- Nilcas Vant: drums (1995–2005)
- Pierre Couquet: bass (1995–2005)
- Neb Xort: keyboards (1998–2005)
Former
- Marc Zabé: guitar, keyboards (1995–1998)
- Stéphane Gerbaud: vocals (1995–1998)
- Nicolas "R.M.S." Saint-Morand: vocals (1998–2005)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
- Exile (1997)
- Drudenhaus (2000)
- New Obscurantis Order (2001)
- Redemption Process (2004)
EPs
- Sodomizing the Archedangel (1999)
- The September E.P. (2005)
Demos
- The Garden of Delight (1993)
- Nihil Negativum (1995)
Compilation albums
- Suicide Is Sexy (2004)
Bootleg albums
- Disturbed (2009)