Unexpect

Emerging from Montreal, Quebec in 1996, the metal group unexpecT—also rendered as uneXpect or Unexpect—assembled as an unpredictable mix of sounds and approaches. Despite enduring repeated personnel shifts across its history, the collective has continued to advance metal's frontiers by merging styles that seldom intersect. Three figures from the founding years, Syriak on vocals and guitar, Artagoth likewise on vocals and guitar, and keyboardist Exod, have remained central amid constant flux in membership and instrumentation that has at times featured violins, dual vocalists, and a nine-string bass. Their initial album, Utopia, appeared in 1999 and earned strong critical approval. After a prolonged stretch of inactivity, unexpecT reemerged in 2003 under a fresh creative orientation, delivering the EP wE, Invaders late in the year. The favorable reaction secured a firm agreement with The End Records, a home for assorted metal and rock artists. In 2006, operating as a steadier seven-piece, the band issued its second album, In a Flesh Aquarium, and toured the United States and Canada alongside Augury, the Gathering, and Giant Squid.