Glenn Five Exits Canadian Cult Metal Band Anvil Over Creative Differences

TORONTO – Despite late-blooming fame, Canadian heavy metal band Anvil has lost bass player Glenn Five over creative differences.

our editor recommends

'Anvil: The Story of Anvil,' the story of the season's most unlikely contender

'Anvil!' wins IDA documentary award

Steve ‘Lips’ Kudlow and Robb Reiner launched Anvil in 1973, enjoyed 1980s success, before Five, AKA Glenn Gyorffy, joined up in 1996 when Anvil had settled back into near obscurity.

But the Canadian band was restored to cult fame when Sacha Gervasi, a one-time Anvil fan-roadie who wrote the script for Steven Spielberg’s The Terminal, made the 2008 award-winning documentary Anvil: The Story of Anvil.

The indie film, which screened at Hot Docs in Toronto, Cannes and Sundance, grossed more than $550,000 at the U.S. box office alone.

That got the never-surrender Canadian band touring global metal festivals, being cheered on by supporters like Chris Martin of Coldplay and Tilda Swinton, who coined the phrase “The Anvil Factor,” and backing up AC/DC and Alice Cooper.

Now Five is calling it quits after 16 years and six albums with Anvil, including the band’s latest album, “Juggernaut of Justice,” to perform new musical styles.

“Although Anvil has been a great band to play in, I have been limited creatively. I have a wide taste in music and I feel that it’s time to broaden my horizons,” Five said Monday in a statement.