Anonymus is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
thrash metal
Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...
band from
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, founded in 1989. Its members are Carlos Araya (drums), Oscar Souto (bass and vocals), Daniel Souto (guitar) and Jef Fortin (guitar).
History
The five musicians (the current members plus Marco Calliari) grew up together in Montreal and started their band in high school. In 1992, they independently released the EP ''The Dream That Lies'' and, in 1992, the EP ''Anonymus''. In 1994, also independently, they released their first album, ''Ni Vu, Ni Connu'' (Not Seen, Not Known).
In 1995, they were signed to the new Montreal label Disques MPV, which paired them with the band Overbass to release the 10-track split ''Live Crash''. In 1996, they re-released ''Ni Vu, Ni Connu'' which, despite being all in French, had received excellent reviews. At the 1996 MIMI (Montreal Independent Music Industry) awards, the band won Best Metal/Rock Group.
In 1997, Anonymus released the album ''Stress'', whose songs are in English, Spanish, Italian and French.
In 1998, they played Quebec's Festival Polliwog; their performance was included on the concert's compilation CD. That November, they toured Mexico with
Blind Guardian
Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in 1984 in Krefeld, West Germany. They are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres.[Serge Robert
Mononc' Serge (real name Serge Robert) is a Québécois musician and poet who sings in French. He is best known for his vulgar lyrics and his irreverent songs making fun of local celebrities and politicians. He is also quite sardonic with the ...]
, aka Mononc' Serge, to record the album ''L'Académie du massacre'', which Robert released independently.
["ANONYMUS, MAIS PAS INCOGNITO"]
''Voir'', 2004/12/09/ They would do this again in 2008, with Robert releasing their joint album ''Musique Barbare''. It was nominated for Best Metal Album at the 2009 GAMIQ Awards.
Their fifth studio album, ''
Chapter Chaos Begins
Anonymus is a Canadian thrash metal band from Montreal, Quebec, founded in 1989. Its members are Carlos Araya (drums), Oscar Souto (bass and vocals), Daniel Souto (guitar) and Jef Fortin (guitar).
History
The five musicians (the current members ...
'', was released by
Galy Records
Galy Records is a Canadian independent record label based in Verdun, Quebec, founded by Eric Galy in 2002. The label includes albums released for bands such as Dead Brain Cells, Neuraxis, Despised Icon, Gorguts, Unexpect, Infernäl Mäjesty, Anv ...
in 2006, to mainly positive reviews.
The band was nominated for a
Canadian Music Week
Canadian Music Week (or CMW) is an industry conference and music festival held over ten days in Toronto and Ontario, Canada.
History
Canadian Music Week began in 1981 and has grown to become one of Canada's largest and most influential media a ...
Indie Award for Favorite Metal Artist/Group Or Duo of the Year in 2008.
Still without a label, Anonymus decided to release their own music and formed Groupe Anonymus. They released the 2009 compilation album *''XX Metal''. That was followed in 2011 by ''État Brute'' and, in 2015, ''Envers et contre tous'' (Against All Odds).
In 2016, Anonymus collaborated with the poets Bertrand Laverdure, Roger Des Roches, Erika Soucy, Thierry Dimanche and
Benoît Jutras
Benoît Jutras (born 1963) is a Canadian composer. Jutras is best known for his work with the Canadian entertainment company Cirque du Soleil, first as music director and later as composer for several of the company's contemporary circus shows ...
to create "Poésie Oralité Métal Musique Écrit" (Poetry Orality Metal Written Music). They toured France in support of it, then took park in
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
's poetry festival, VERSeFest.
In 2019, Anonymus released the album ''Sacrifices'' then, in 2020 and on the new label Bam&Co-Heavy, ''La Bestia'', their first album which is entirely in Spanish (all band members but Fortin are of
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
an descent). It includes one new song and 11 songs from previous albums which the band members translated into Spanish. The concept came from their desire to move into Latin America, South America and Spain. Founding member
Marco Calliari
Marco Calliari is a singer-songwriter born in Quebec from Italian parents. He began his career in 1989 in forming the thrash metal group Anonymus alongside Carlos Araya and brothers Daniel and Oscar Souto. Since 2003, he pursued a solo career ...
left the band in 2003 to pursue a solo career in
Worldbeat
Worldbeat is a music genre that blends pop music or rock music with world music or traditional music. Worldbeat is similar to other cross-pollination labels of contemporary and roots genres, and which suggest a rhythmic, harmonic or textural c ...
music but, for this album, he returned to re-record the song "Tierra", which is sung in Spanish and Italian. The album, which was released via livestream, won the 2020 GAMIQ Award for Metal Album of the Year. It also won the first-ever "Piggy Award", named in honour of the late
Voivod guitarist
Denis D'Amour
Denis "Piggy" D'Amour (September 24, 1959 – August 26, 2005) was a Canadian guitarist. He was a member of the heavy metal band Voivod from its inception in 1982 until his death in 2005.
D'Amour's approach to music was anarchic and experime ...
, aka 'Piggy', and awarded in recognition to those who have forged successful careers in the Quebec music industry.
Aside from the band, Fortin is a producer and the other members have played with several other bands. Oscar Souto is featured in two songs, "Inner Capsule" and "Tunnel Effect" on the
Quo Vadis
''Quō vādis?'' (, ) is a Latin phrase meaning "Where are you marching?". It is also commonly translated as "Where are you going?" or, poetically, "Whither goest thou?"
The phrase originates from the Christian tradition regarding Saint Pete ...
DVD "
Defiant Indoctrination
Quo Vadis was a Canadian melodic death metal band from Montreal, Quebec, formed in 1992 by Bart Frydrychowicz, Yanic Bercier, and Arie Itman, named after the novel by Polish writer Henryk Sienkiewicz. Since its inception, the band released thr ...
", for which he also does guest vocals on the studio versions. The band can be seen in B.A.R.F.'s DVD ''From The Grave''. Carlos is on the drum for half of the show and the band members make an appearance in "Taper Du Pied".
Discography
Albums
*''Ni Vu, Ni Connu'' (1994), Independent. Reissued 1996.
*''
Stress
Stress may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition
* Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...
'' (1997), Disques MPV
*''Instinct'' (1999), Disques MPV
*''Daemonium'' (2002), Kafka/Disques MPV
*''L'Académie Du Massacre'' with
Serge Robert
Mononc' Serge (real name Serge Robert) is a Québécois musician and poet who sings in French. He is best known for his vulgar lyrics and his irreverent songs making fun of local celebrities and politicians. He is also quite sardonic with the ...
aka Mononc' Serge (2003), Mononc' Serge Independent
*''
Chapter Chaos Begins
Anonymus is a Canadian thrash metal band from Montreal, Quebec, founded in 1989. Its members are Carlos Araya (drums), Oscar Souto (bass and vocals), Daniel Souto (guitar) and Jef Fortin (guitar).
History
The five musicians (the current members ...
'' (2006), Galy Records
*''Musique Barbare'' with
Serge Robert
Mononc' Serge (real name Serge Robert) is a Québécois musician and poet who sings in French. He is best known for his vulgar lyrics and his irreverent songs making fun of local celebrities and politicians. He is also quite sardonic with the ...
aka Mononc' Serge (2008), Mononc' Serge Independent
*''XX Metal'' (2009), Groupe Anonymus
*''État Brute'' (2011), Groupe Anonymus
*''Envers et contre tous'' (2015), Groupe Anonymus
"En Entrevue : Anonymus – 27 ans de Metal !"
''Thorium Magazine'', Feb 1, 2016
*''Poesie Oralite Metal Musique Ecrit'' (2016), Productions Rhizome
*''Sacrifices
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exis ...
'' (2019), Groupe Anonymus
*''La Bestia'' (2020), Bam&Co - Heavy
EPs
*''The Dream That Lies'' (1992), Independent
*''Anonymus'' (1993), Independent
*''Live Crash'', split with Overbass (1996), Disques MPV
References
External links
*
Anonymus
on Encyclopaedia Metallum
Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives (commonly known as Metal Archives per the URL or abbreviated as MA) is an online encyclopedia based upon musical artists who predominantly perform heavy metal music along with its various sub-genres. E ...
Musical groups established in 1989
Canadian thrash metal musical groups
Musical groups from Montreal
Musical quartets
1989 establishments in Quebec
{{metal-music-stub