Opera Multi Steel

2025 stock Opera Multi Steel was born during the winter of 1983 in Bourges, a city in the center of France. The band started off as a trio with Franck Lopez (Vocals, Keyboards,Recorder, Guitars), his brother Patrick L. Robin (Vocals, Percussion) and Catherine M. Marie (Keyboards, Vocals). They began to record demos utilizing a Elex Keyboard, Casio VL-Tone, Roland TR-606 drum machine, guitars and bass pedals. Layering organ-like keyboards over drum machine snares and a woodwind recorder, they created a unique style of Medieval or Baroque synth pop. The result was a 4-song debut, eponymous EP, released in 1984 on their own label Orcadia Machina.

The songs range from fast and bright, New Wave influenced by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s “Electricity” and slower, brooding Darkwave ballads like Faith era Cure. All songs were sung in French with lyrics about feeling of nihilism, disgust with life and escaping to a botanical garden in search of redemption. It was a pre-cursor to their darker and classic French coldwave sounds of their debut album “Cathédrale” released the following year.