Unexpect (often stylized as uneXpect, or unexpecT, and UnexpecT) was a Canadian

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

band from

Montréal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, featuring a unique amalgamation of different metal subgenres like

progressive metal Progressive metal (often shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven sound of the former with t ...

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

and melodic heavy metal, and of other styles of music including European classical,

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

gypsy jazz Gypsy jazz (also known as sinti jazz, gypsy swing, jazz manouche or hot club-style jazz) is a musical idiom inspired by the Romani people, Romani jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, Jean "Django" Reinhardt (1910–1953), in conjunction with the Fr ...

, electro, ambient,

noise Noise is sound, chiefly unwanted, unintentional, or harmful sound considered unpleasant, loud, or disruptive to mental or hearing faculties. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrat ...

, and circus music. The band's debut album, ''

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

'', was independently released. The band only had word of mouth and the Internet to market the work. With unorthodox distribution and online support, the album sold successfully. They released their two following albums via

The End Records The End Records is a record label in Manhattan that specialized in rock, heavy metal, indie, and electronic music. History Early years (1998–2005) The End Records was founded by Andreas Katsambas in Pasadena, California, with the goal of ...

, before returning to independent releases.

History

Two of the founding members had a long tenure with the band: Artagoth and SyriaK. Unexpect recorded their first album, ''

'', in 1998, and released it in 1999 independently. The 2003 EP '' _We, Invaders'' was released in November 2003 on the Canadian label Galy Records. They then signed with New York-based

and the band's second album '' In a Flesh Aquarium'' was released on August 22, 2006, in North America. Unexpect released their third album, ''Fables of the Sleepless Empire'', on May 31, 2011. The band won the 7th annual Independent Music Awards Vox Pop vote for best Hard Rock/Metal Album with ''In a Flesh Aquarium''. On August 22, 2015, after the band had been inactive for almost three years, and with few updates, an announcement was made on their official

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page stating the members had decided to disband for good and pursue their own personal musical endeavours.

Members

Last line-up * Eryk "Syriak" Chapados –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

(1996–2015) (ex-Ekinox, ex-Magister Dixit) * Stéphane "Artagoth" English – lead vocals, guitar (1996–2015) * Roxanne "Leïlindel" Hegyesy – lead vocals (2001–2015) * Frédérick "ChaotH" Filiatrault –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

(2001–2015) (Humanoid) * Landryx –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

(2004–2015) (ex-Decadawn, ex-Eclipse Prophecy) * Blaise Borboën-Léonard –

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

(2007–2015) Session members * Nathalie Duchesne - additional violin,

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

(2003–2015) * Stéphanie Colerette - additional violin, cello (2003–2015) * Amélie Blanchette -

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

(2006–2015) Former members * Véronique "Elda" Michaud – lead vocals (1996–2001) * Mathieu "Zircon" Phaneuf – bass (1996–2001) * Olivier "Merzenya" Genest – keyboards (1996–2001) * Anthony Trujillo – drums (2002) * Dasnos – drums (2003) * Charles "Le Bateleur" Crépeau – violin (1996–2006) * Stéphane "ExoD" Primeau – drums (1996-2002), keyboards,

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, sampling (2002-2010)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:60 bottom:80 top:5 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1996 till:01/01/2016 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:violin value:drabgreen legend:Violin id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:lines1 value:black legend:Studio_release id:bars value:gray(0.95) BackgroundColors = bars:bars Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1996 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1997 BarData = bar:Elda text:Elda bar:Leïlindel text:Leïlindel bar:LeBateleur text:Le Bateleur bar:Blaise text:Blaise bar:Syriak text:Syriak bar:Artagoth text:Artagoth bar:Merzenya text:Merzenya bar:Zircon text:Zircon bar:ChaotH text:ChaotH bar:ExoD text:ExoD bar:Anthony text:Anthony bar:Dasnos text:Dasnos bar:Landryx text:Landryx PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Elda from:start till:01/01/2001 color:vocals bar:Leïlindel from:01/01/2001 till:end color:vocals bar:Syriak from:start till:end color:guitar bar:Syriak from:start till:end color:vocals width:3 bar:Artagoth from:start till:end color:guitar bar:Artagoth from:start till:end color:vocals width:3 bar:Zircon from:start till:01/01/2001 color:bass bar:ChaotH from:01/01/2001 till:end color:bass bar:Merzenya from:start till:01/01/2001 color:keyboards bar:ExoD from:start till:01/01/2002 color:drums bar:ExoD from:01/01/2002 till:01/01/2011 color:keyboards bar:Anthony from:01/01/2002 till:01/01/2003 color:drums bar:Dasnos from:01/01/2003 till:01/01/2004 color:drums bar:Landryx from:01/01/2004 till:end color:drums bar:LeBateleur from:start till:01/01/2007 color:violin bar:Blaise from:01/01/2007 till:end color:violin LineData= at:01/01/1999 color:lines1 layer:back at:11/01/2003 at:08/22/2006 at:05/31/2011

Discography

* ''

'' (1999, self-released) * '' _wE, Invaders'' EP (2003, Galy Records; distributed by

) * '' In a Flesh Aquarium'' (2006,

) * '' Fables of the Sleepless Empire'' (2011, self-released)

References

External links

*
archived
on July 28, 2015
UneXpect
at

{{Authority control Canadian progressive metal musical groups Avant-garde metal musical groups Musical groups from Montreal Musical groups established in 1996 Musical groups disestablished in 2015 1996 establishments in Quebec 2015 disestablishments in Quebec