Anvil Bitch was formed in the fall of 1983 by a core group of teenagers from Northeast Philadelphia. These teenagers were John Plumley (guitar), Chuck Stadulis (drums), Dave Carr (bass) and original second guitarist Frank Wilus. All four founding members were heavily influenced by the burgeoning thrash metal movement spawned by the early releases of Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, Venom, Celtic Frost, Mercyful Fate, Exodus and Motörhead.

With the addition of vocalist Gary Capriotti, the line up was complete.
With the help of the group's musical mentors, Black Task (also from Philadelphia) they staged some ground breaking gigs at Philadelphia's legendary Empire Rock Club.

In 1985, the band recorded the demo that would gain them attention in the metal underground. It was at this time that Frank Wilus left the band. While Frank was not in the band long, he did contribute to the material by co-writing an early crowd favorite "Time to Die."

During the mid 80s, there was no internet, not even CDs. Bands traded demo tapes by mail and established connections to the metal underground scene. It was during this time that the group caught the attention of independent metal label New Renaissance Records from the West Coast.

Following appearances on two compilation albums from New Renaissance Records, the band went into a Pennsylvania studio to record 'Rise To Offend' in 1986. This was to be the band's one and only full length release. As anyone can tell by listening to it, the production was lacking but the energy and passion that the band had for the thrash metal genre was evident. Fortunately, Anvil Bitch was a great live band and generated a large and dedicated following in and around Philadelphia.

While touring to promote 'Rise To Offend' the band was able to play up and down the Eastern Seaboard. On the home front, with the help of local management, the band was able to open for the likes of Exodus, King Diamond, Overkill and even Motörhead.

During the long list of gigs played in support of the album, the band enlisted the help of brilliant lead guitarist, Herb Yea. (Herb's picture appeared on the album sleeve but he did not play on it.) Herb's tenure was short and his departure started a revolving door situation at lead guitar. Fortunately, John and Gary were the primary song writers so the band just played through it until finally imploding for various reasons in 1988.

In the fall of 1988, the remaining members split into two new bands. Chuck, Dave and John formed Dominance and Gary joined Without Warning from New Jersey.

Many long lasting musical relationships formed during the duration of Anvil Bitch's reign. Some of these groups are still around and remain friends of the band.

Acknowledgements are in order for some of these bands who came after Anvil Bitch particularly Death Metal pioneers, Goreaphobia and Rellik. as well as close friends from New Jersey, the great Faith Or Fear. Philly hard core legends, Dead Spot, also deserved credit for their influence.

Here and now in 2008, Anvil Bitch has decided to reform, play and record again. Four of the original members, Plumley, Carr, Stadulis and Capriotti, are joined by lead guitarist, Lance Walter. Lance was a member of Dominance in the 90s and has known the band since 1988. We continued this way, pounding it out around the Philadelphia area, and in March of 2010, Lance left the band to pursue other interests. We wish Lance att he best in all his future endeavors. As of this writing, eight new songs have been completed and the energy is high. Time will tell how far this will go but for now, everyone in the band is grateful for the opportunity to play again. They are just as excited about metal as when they first heard Black Sabbath, KISS and Iron Maiden. It's in the blood.

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