Originally known as LIPS upon their formation, this no frills metal combo out of Toronto even pre-dated Canadian rock institution RUSH. The main protagonists, frontman Steve Kudlow (a.k.a. 'Lips') and drummer Robb Reiner, had been operational even before with the band GRAVESTONE. Active on the live scene throughout the decade from April 1973 onwards, being solidified in 1978 with the acquisition of rhythm guitarist Dave Allison and bassist Ian Dickson, the first ANVIL product was originally issued under the LIPS handle. The debut 1981 album, 'Hard 'N' Heavy' released in 1981, was in fact intended to be purely demo material but as an enterprising unit and eager to recoup their recording costs the band issued 1,000 vinyl copies on their own Splash label. Gradually LIPS graduated from an S&M bondage themed shock Rock show into raw heavy metal. However, many of the early onstage appendages, such as Lips' notorious dildo holster, made the transition into later years. Still as LIPS the outfit's initiative came to the attention of Attic Records, who quickly re-released the album although now under the band name of ANVIL due to protestations from disco act LIPPS INC.

'Hard 'N' Heavy' still retained a large degree of the LIPS Rock n' Roll routine but, along with their lyrical obsession with sex, did hint at much, much heavier things to come. Tracks such as 'Bondage' and 'School Love' would prove harbingers of familiar output throughout the band's future catalogue. 'Hard 'N' Heavy' also boasted a beefed up take on the ROLLING STONES classic 'Paint It Black'.

Onstage Lips would famously cultivate press coverage too by performing lead guitar solos with the aid of a vibrator. Anvil made their first foray onto the live scene in Canada with a bunch of club shows leading to the nationwide support to GIRLSCHOOL although Lips did take time out to produce a demo for KRAKEN.

1982's 'Metal On Metal', produced by Chris Tsangarides, boasted the unique honour of having the track 'Mothra' being recorded by Lips using a vibrator on his guitar rather than the more usual plectrum. An uncompromising slab of heaviness, 'Metal On Metal' was the first in line not only to demonstrate the band's adherence to full on metal, powered by the frenetic double bass drumming from the engine room of Robb Reiner. Taking the songs to the people, ANVIL conducted a world tour that took in a high profile gig at Castle Donington's August 1982 'Monsters Of Rock' festival in the UK sharing the stage with STATUS QUO, GILLAN, SAXON and HAWKWIND.

The follow up, 1983's 'Forged In Fire', an equally heavyweight offering again with Tsangarides in charge of the faders, strangely became the focus of a media backlash in previously robust bastions of support such as the UK and Europe. ANVIL's road work spanned the entire globe to promote the record, including a slot at the BLACK SABBATH headlined UK Reading festival in August, supports to WHITESNAKE in Europe and Japanese dates in September 1983.

Many major name acts took direct inspiration from 'Forged In Fire', indeed it is today recognised as the band's creative high point, but reeling from savage reviews, album sales plateaued and Anvil found themselves without a record deal. Nevertheless, Attic Records capitalised on the group's standing with the 1985 'Backwaxed' collection, this semi-compilation comprising five previously unreleased outtake tracks, B side 'Steamin' and songs taken from the previous three records. Lips surprised many by revealing that the title track, recorded during the 'Forged In Fire' sessions, was originally deemed too offensive for public consumption.

ANVIL got to perform in Japan again, playing the 'Super Rock' festival at Seibu Stadium in Tokyo during August 1985. ANVIL went into the studio that same year to cut demos with producer Ric Browde, a somewhat strange choice for Anvil as Browde's credits included notably lighter acts such as POISON. Songs recorded were 'Rockin', 'Mad Dog', World's Apart' and 'Straight Between The Eyes'. Finding a new stable with Metal Blade Records, ANVIL bowed back in with 1987's 'Strength Of Steel', featuring a cover version of THE STAMPEDERS 'Wild Eyes'.

Following completion of the 'Pound For Pound' and live 'Past And Present' albums, both co-produced by the band and Paul LaChapelle, Dave Allison quit in 1989, ditching the music business entirely to find a new vocation in stereotypical Canadian tradition as a lumberjack. This defection prompted a period of inactivity for the band broken finally by press statements indicating a forthcoming album title of 'Tools Of Torture', then 'Evoke The Evil'. They finally bounced back signed to the Belgian label Mausoleum and Canadian label Maximum, a newly founded concern of HELIX manager William Seip, for the 1992, re-branded yet again, 'Worth The Weight' album with new guitarist Sebastian Marino, being a New Yorker Anvil's only non-Canadian, in tow. Following the album release, Anvil pulled in bassist Mike Duncan. Meantime, English Metal crew BENEDICTION had covered 'Forged In Fire' for their 1992 album 'Dark Is The Season'. TUNGSTEN would also pay tribute to the same song on their 1996 album '183.85'.

Guitarist Sebastian Marino made himself busy with RAMROD cutting two demos in 1994 with LIEGE LORD singer Joseph Comeau and drummer Bill Mount prior to teaming up with cult New York Speed Metal merchants OVERKILL for their 1997 effort 'From The Underground And Below'. Marino had also found time to produce the 1996 album by DEVASTATOR.

ANVIL had been away from the public eye for their lengthiest hiatus yet, but got back into action with an all new cast, involving bassist Michael Duncan and guitarist Ivan Hurd, for 1996's de-tuned 'Plugged In Permanent', released by Hypnotic in Canada and Massacre Records in Germany. Japanese versions added an exclusive track 'Stolen'. ANVIL at this juncture in their career included the lynchpin of Lips, mainstay drummer Robb Reiner and new faces guitarist Ivan Hurd and former EDGE UNKNOWN bassist Glenn Five (real name Gyorffy).

Quickly back into the fray, ANVIL followed up with 'Absolutely No Alternative' in 1997, boasting a completely re-recorded take on 'March Of The Crabs'. Song titles such as 'Piss Test', 'Hair Pie' and 'Show Me Your Tits' gave ample evidence that the Canucks humour had remained intact. They were back again 1998 with 'Speed Of Sound', issued across the globe by way of Massacre for Europe, Rock Brigade in Brazil, Avalon Marquee in Japan and Hypnotic in their homeland. 'Speed Of Sound' observed an ANVIL aware of the present Metal climate, Robb Reiner even introducing blast beats. A curious distinction in the artwork, depicting an anvil-plane, saw only the German version firing a missile. Japanese variants hosted two extra studio tracks, 'Kick Some Ass' and 'Vengeance To Kill'.

With Germany's fascination in the late 90s for early 80s cult metal acts ANVIL made a return to the touring circuit undertaking dates with FLOTSAM AND JETSAM and fellow Canucks EXCITER. The band rounded off 1998 by performing at the long established 'Wacken Open Air' festival in Germany.

ANVIL toured Germany in early 2000 sharing a package bill with RIOT, AGENT STEEL and DOMINE. The year 2000 also saw an 'Anthology Of Anvil' compilation released with an unreleased track and extensive liner notes by the esteemed Canadian Metal journalist, Martin Popoff.

German Massacre label variants of the 2001 Pierre Rémillard produced album 'Plenty Of Power' differed to Canadian distributed CDs in having the final exclusive track as 'Dirty Dorothy'. The Hypnotic Canadian imprint replaced this song with 'Left Behind', actually a tune dating back to the Lips / Reiner GRAVESTONE days. Sebastian Marino and his colleagues in the RAMROD rhythm section took to the stage at the German 'Wacken Open Air' festival the same year as part of a reunion line-up of LIEGE LORD.

Anvil would be scheduling a new album, 'Still Going Strong', for release through Massacre Records in June 2002. The band headlined the Montreal 'Powerpack' festival on November 8th, topping a bill over HANKER, HEAVEN'S CRY and SOULFORGE.

ANVIL's March 2004 album, 'Back To Basics', was recorded with producer Pierre Rémillard in Quebec. As a bonus, digipacks of 'Back To Basics' included a second DVD disc of the band's August 1998 'Wacken Open Air' festival performance. The band's profile was momentarily heightened in the USA when Screaming Ferret Wreckords undertook a campaign to release no less than seven back catalogue albums. Although announced, the albums failed to appear in stores.

Unfortunately Ivan Hurd fell from a ladder in May, breaking four ribs, his left wrist and also suffered a cracked tailbone. As a result, he would not be able to perform with the band at the July 24th festival dubbed 'The Gates of Hell' at the FunHaus in Toronto, Ontario. His replacement would be George Vee.

German Heavy Metal band, POWERGOD, cut a cover version of 'Motormount' for inclusion on their 'Long Live The Loud - That's Metal Lesson II' released through Massacre Records in July 2005. Lips guested on this version, as did ROUGH SILK's Ferdy Doernberg on pedal steel guitar. ANVIL scheduled European dates, in a road alliance with PHANTOM-X, for November. 

After a couple of difficult years with poor distribution, weak sales and lacklustre reviews, ANVIL's fortunes reversed. The band was approached by a former roadie, turned Hollywood director who pitched the idea of an ANVIL movie 'The Story Of Anvil'.  Two well known names in the movie business, Director Sacha Gervasi and Producer Rebecca Yeldham tackled the project and before long, Anvil was on the road on a month long European tour with cameras in tow. In early 2006 it was learned that ANVIL had re-forged links with producer Chris Tsangarides for a new album. Cameras still rolling the band entered the studio in Dover, England with 'CT' and the end result was not only their 13th album, cheekily entitled 'This Is Thirteen' (or "Tit", for short), but a feature length documentary as well.

After numerous label rejections the band released the album independently via the internet and the bands fanclub with a limited pressing of 1000 copies.  Meanwhile the film was edited, completed and released in January 2008.  The documentary film featured the bands struggle over the past few years and received rave reviews Film Festivals in Europe, Australia, Canada and the US, including the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.

During the autumn of 2008 Anvil were working with Chris Tsangarides on their 14th album, entitled 'Juggernaut Of Justice'. Upon worldwide release, 'The Story Of Anvil' documentary greatly revived the band's profile as ANVIL contracted new management, with SLAYER's business advisor Rick Sales, and a major live agency deal.

ANVIL was announced as openers for JUDAS PRIEST and WHITESNAKE on their summer 2009 North American tour. However, this did not materialise. The band grabbed guest spots to AC/DC at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts on 28th July and Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on 31st July.

Garry Sharpe-Young