Anwynn

Anwynn
Origin	Belgium
Genres	Melodic death metal
Years active	2007–present
Labels	M&O Music
Website	www.anwynn-official.com

Members	Eline Van De Putte Vincent "McBouc" Carton Julien "Jukka" Huyssens Vincent "Wobi" Van Loo Astrid Kaiserman Florent "Flush" Boudry

Past members	Laurent "Wallace" Hunaerts Amandine Blanquet Forster Perelsztejn Benoît Becker Laurent Verheylewegen

Anwynn is a Belgian melodic death metal band founded in 2007. It takes its name from the Otherworld in Welsh mythology. Currently, the band is signed to M&O Music and have released their first full-length album Forbidden Songs through the label on 23 April 2012. They have also released one demo, Behind the Veil and one EP, Newydd Wawr.

History

Formation (2007)

Before Anwynn, Wallace, Mathias and Fred were playing in a heavy metal band named Arawn. Arawn split up in December 2006 but Wallace, Mathias and Fred decided to continue the adventure together and founded Anwynn. At first they wanted to remain a traditional heavy metal band, so they began looking for a male singer. But they quickly decided to give every candidate a chance and auditioned female singers as well. In February 2007, bassist Vincent "Wobi" Van Loo joined the band, shortly followed by mezzo-soprano female singer Amandine Blanquet in April 2007.^[1]

First gigs and Behind the Veil (2008-2009)

Anwynn began playing their first gig at VitamineZ in Wavre, where the band received the audience's prize; then at Angel's Rock I in Uccle, at the B52 in Ostende and at the Factory in Liège, among many others. In 2008, Anwynn released their first demo, Behind the Veil. The band then encountered some line-up changes: Mathias left the band and was replaced by Jeremy Laitem (Sekhmet), and Vladimir was hired to play the keyboards. Anwynn slowly began to evolve into a symphonic metal band.^[2]

Newydd Wawr and line-up changes (2010-2011)

The year 2010 was a real turnover for Anwynn, as four new members joined the band : Astrid Kaiserman on keyboards, Benoît Becker on rhythm guitar, Vincent "McBouc" Carton on vocals and Forster Perelsztejn on drums, replaced by Laurent Verheylewegen later on. Anwynn began to write much more aggressive material and evolved into a melodic death metal band with symphonic elements. The band announced that Newydd Wawr, their first EP, would be released in December 2010. Anwynn then played at Power Prog and Metal Festival 2010 with headliners Scorpions in April and at Metal Female Voices Festival 2010 with Arch Enemy, Epica, The Agonist and many more.^[3] At the beginning of 2011, Laurent and Benoît left the band due to musical differences.

Forbidden Songs (2011-present)

In July 2011, Julien "Jukka" Huyssens joined Anwynn on rhythm guitar. The band announced that they will be entering the studio in October to record their first album, Forbidden Songs. The album was recorded, mixed and mastered at Manic Studio by Olivier Wittenberg (Manic Movement), who also played as a session drummer on the record. It was released by the French label M&O Music on April 23, 2012 and received positive reviews from the critics.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10] Anwynn then started touring with new drummer Florent "Flush" Boudry to promote their album and played gigs with bands like Diabulus in Musica for their The Wanderer Tour along with Skeptical Minds and Izegrim. They played at various festivals in Belgium like DarkMoon Festival, RommelRock 2012 with Grave Digger, Sirenia and Cripper but were also invited to play in Flensburg, Germany by the Danish power metal band Seven Thorns. The band announced that they will play at the 10th Anniversary Edition of Metal Female Voices Festival on October 20, 2012, with Lacuna Coil, Arch Enemy, Delain, Arkona and more.

Musical style and lyrical themes

Musical style

Anwynn mixes various musical genres, with songs often containing traditional death metal riffs, more heavy metal-influenced solos and massive orchestrations. The band also features two lead singers: McBouc for male death metal vocals and Amandine for classical female mezzo-soprano singing.^[11]^[12]

Influences

Much of the band is influenced by various European and American metal acts, including Amon Amarth, Cannibal Corpse, Nightwish, Iron Maiden, Hatebreed, Machine Head, Dimmu Borgir, Arch Enemy, Leaves' Eyes, Tristania and many others.^[13]

Lyrics

The band's lyrics consist of several different themes, mainly upon celtic mythology but also piracy in "Across the Seven Seas" or conquest of the New World in "Conquistador". Some of their songs refer to psychology, for example "Free" and "At the Gates of Madness"^[14]

Discography

Demo

Behind the Veil (2008)

EPs

Newydd Wawr (2010)

Studio albums

Forbidden Songs (2012)

Band members

Current members

Eline Van De Putte – lead vocals (2013–present)
Vincent "McBouc" Carton – lead vocals, growls (2009–present)
Julien "Jukka" Huyssens – guitars (2011–present)
Vincent "Wobi" Van Loo – bass (2007–present)
Astrid Kaiserman - keyboards (2009–present)
Florent "Flush" Boudry – drums (2012–present)

Former members

Amandine Blanquet – lead vocals (2007–2013)
Laurent "Wallace" Hunaerts - guitars (2007–2013)
Mathias - guitars (2007–2008)
Fred - drums (2007–2008)
Vladimir - keyboards (2008–2009)
Forster Perelsztejn – drums (2009–2010)
Benoît Becker - rhythm guitar (2010–2011)
Laurent Verheylewegen - drums (2010–2011)
Dereck Roy - drums (2011)
Olivier Wittenberg – session drummer on Forbidden Songs

References

External links

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