Opera Multi Steel

Opera Multi Steel, often abbreviated to OMS, is a French coldwave band^[2] from Bourges, founded in 1983 by Franck Lopez,^[3] Patrick L. Robin and Catherine Marie. The band is known for its incorporation of medieval and renaissance elements in electronic music, lyrics and album covers.

History

Formation and works from the 80s

Opera Multi Steel was founded during the winter 1983–84 in Bourges. The original members were Franck Lopez,^[4] his brother Patrick L. Robin and Catherine Marie. A four-track 45 RPM recorded in 1984 was the first studio recording from the group. The following year, OMS released "Cathédrale", a 10-track album dedicated to the gothic building of Bourges.^[5] The band gave many concerts and played in several French festivals. It also contributed to many K7 and record compilations on French and European independent labels.

Opera Multi Steel recorded with lighter sound material on several K7s. Many of these tracks were never released, or were available in limited editions.

Xavier Martin, an electric guitar player, joined the band in 1987 for the studio session of "Personne ne Dort", a 2-track 45 RPM with a cover designed by the French painter Speedy Graphito. Martin left the group after one year to pursue his interest in rock music.

In 1988, Eric Milhiet, who had played with Franck in other bands, joined the band for the recording session of the 8-track album "À Contresens".

Two albums, temporal hiatus and a comeback

"Les Douleurs de l’Ennui", an 11-track album, was released in 1990. The cover was decorated with a painted photograph which represents a female medieval knight, made up by Pierre et Gilles, designers from Paris. Percussionist Jean-Marc Bougain first appeared on this record, and joined the band in stage performances as well.

The band's 17-track album, "Stella Obscura" took all of 1991 to record. Robin, the band's lead singer, suffering from schizophrenia, was hospitalized for some time shortly after its release, because of several suicide attempts. The band went into hiatus during this time.

In 1995, the Brazilian independent label Museum Obscuro, division of Cri du Chat Disques, released a compilation, Days of Creation, representing the ten first years of the band, recordings, which had become popular at São Paulo gothic dance clubs. In 1997 the label then issued a new 14-track album called "Histoires de France", which included of lyrics that Robin wrote during his convalescence. Later that year the Robin, Lopez, Marie and Patrick, Franck, Catherine and Milhiet, with support from Carine Grieg of Collection d’Arnell Andréa, came to Brazil for a concert tour, playing music from their recordings.

In 1998, the band recorded 11 tracks for a new album, titled "Eternelle Tourmente", at "Studio du Rempart de la Misericorde" in Dijon, France. Four of these were new versions of very old songs from limited edition K7 tapes, and seven were new compositions. Most lyrics were written by Robin, but "Pauvre Sens..." was written by the medieval French poet Rutebeuf and "Tristesse" was by the French realistic poetress Marie Mareau. The cover design shows "Wounded Angel" (1903), a picture by the Finnish painter Hugo Simberg. The album included folk, medieval music, synthpop, darkwave and coldwave music, and included vocals by Grieg took. "Eternelle Tourmente" was re-released by the label Triton in May 1999. In August 2000, the CD re-edition of the entire OMS discography was released as "À Contresens".

2000-present

In 2001, the musicians began work on a new album, "Une Idylle en Péril", which was released in 2003 on Triton.^[6] The tracks were recorded and composed by the members of the band, once more with the addition of vocals by Grieg. Thibault d'Abboville, another CdAA member, also performed viola on two songs. The album is contained folk music with mandolas, guitars, flutes, mixed with samples from Medieval and Renaissance classic composers. The artwork, an Angel helping two young people to cross railtracks, was created by Reno. In 2005 and 2006, several songs, including "Un Froid Seul" and "Du Son des Cloches" were included in French CD and DVD compilations.

OMS stopped recording albums after 2002,^[7] but some of their material has been re-issued in various forms. In September 2007, the label Infrastition released the second CD re-edition of the 1985 "Cathédrale", including the four tracks of the first EP of the band, and some period video. In 2008, the OMS track “Là où l’Homme trépasse”, from the album "Eternelle Tourmente", was included on the compilation "Ruines et Vanités", released by the French Magazine "Trinity" to celebrate its 10th birthday.

In September 2008, the German label Vinyl-on-Demand issued a three LP Box set called “OMS K7 Tapes Archives MCMLXXXIII-MCMLXXXVII”, an anthology of 36 tracks from 1980s OMS K7 tapes from the eighties, including some unreleased demos. That year, the Brazilian label Wave Records released a "Best of" double CD compilation album called "Parachèvement de l'Esquisse".

May 2010, OMS performed a cover of the Joy Division's "Isolation", issued on "Tribute to Ian Curtis: Transmission (30 years with(out) Ian Curtis)". That year the band released a new album, "La Légende Dorée", on Wave Records, with twelve brand songs. The album’s title was taken from a book written by Jacques de Voragine between 1261 and 1266. The band's song "Ills S’eloigent" was included in the 2010 compilation album Cold Waves and Minimal Electronics Vol.1,.^[8]

In 2013, the band released an album Apparences De L’Invisible.^[9]

Later a new band, Quam Tristis, consisting of members of Opera Multisteel, released an album, "Les Chants Funestes".^[10]

Band members

Current members

• Franck Lopez – keyboards, guitars, bass recorders, flute, percussions, backing and lead vocals (1983–present)
• Patrick L. Robin – lead and backing vocals (main), keyboards, recorders, percussions (1983–present)
• Catherine Marie – Keyboards, rhythm programming, backing vocals, voices (1983–present)
• Eric Milhiet – keyboards, bass, guitars, flute (1988–present)

Former members

• Xavier Martin – electric guitar (1987-1988)
• Jean-Marc Bougain – drums and percussions (1990-1992)

Discography

Studio albums

• Cathédrale (1985)
• À Contresens (1988)
• Les Douleurs De L'Ennui (1990)
• Stella Obscura (1992)
• Histoires De France (1996)
• Eternelle Tourmente (1999)
• Une Idylle En Péril (2003)
• La Légende Dorée (2010)

K7s

• Autres Appels (1985)
• Etternelle Tourmente (1986)
• Opera Multi Steel & Modern Art (1987)
• Je Regarde La Pluie (1987)
• Regret Qui S'Ecaille (1987)
• OMS in Concert (1987)

EPs and singles

• Eponymous (1984)^[11]
• Personne Ne Dort (1987)
• Les Martyrs (1991)

Compilation albums

• O.M.S. / Compilation (1987)
• January 1989 (1989)
• Figures De Style (1989)
• Jardin Botanique (1989)
• Days Of Creation (1995)
• Parachevement De L´esquisse (2008)
• K7 Tapes Archives MCMLXXXIII-MCMLXXXVII (2008)

References

External links

• http://opera.multi.steel.pagesperso-orange.fr/About%20us.htm
• Opera Multi Steel discography at Discogs
• Opera Multi Steel at AllMusic