All language subtitles for What Happened to Era The Faceless Band & The Fake Language-en

Some people say these songs open portals…

You definitely know these melodies.
Maybe from the radio, TV commercials,

or even as the soundtrack
of movies and soap operas.

But behind this unique mix of mysterious chants,

rock and synthesizers, there’s
a story almost nobody knows.

The mind behind this “sacred” sound is not a monk,

but a Hard Rock guitarist who opened
shows for AC/DC and Black Sabbath.

The story of Era is that of a man who locked
himself in the tower of a real castle to compose,

who was humiliated by record labels,
told that his music was “outdated”,

but decided to put his own money on
the line to create a unique universe.

A project that sold millions without
ever showing the face of its creator.

Today we’re going to uncover the mysteries of
Era. Make sure you subscribe to the channel,

because today’s story is a true epic battle.

To understand Era, we need to go back to 1976.
The man behind it all is called Eric Lévi.

Son of a university professor and a ballerina,

he grew up listening to classical
music, but rock was his true passion.

Eric founded Shakin’ Street, a French
Hard Rock band that crossed the ocean.

They moved to the United States and opened
for giants like AC/DC and Black Sabbath.

But, as everything in life changes,
the band eventually came to an end.

Eric spent some time in New York working with
other artists, until cinema changed his destiny.

In the early 90s, he returned to France
and started composing soundtracks.

That’s when he wrote “Enae Volare Mezzo” for
the comedy Les Visiteurs (“The Visitors”),

a film that took 14 million
people to the movie theaters!

Eric brought a mystical dimension to the film,

using choirs and medieval sounds. It
was the seed that gave birth to Era.

But here something curious happened: the
movie was a triumph, but the soundtrack

was a sales failure. It sold only 35,000 copies.

Even so, Eric felt there was
something there. He believed

there was room for a heroic fantasy
music project that he would name “Era”.

From the Latin “Aera”, it means “Age” or
“Period of Time” in almost all Western

languages. It was the perfect name for a
project that doesn’t belong to a single

era, but builds a bridge between the
medieval past and the modern present.

The problem was, he was the only
one who believed in the project.

In 1995, he made the decision to
isolate himself in the Donjon,

the main tower of the Royal Castle
of Collioure, in France, to compose.

“I felt like I was creating the soundtrack
for a movie that didn’t exist yet,” he said.

With the demos ready and using the
money from his work as a composer,

Eric funded the recording of Era’s debut album.

He didn’t hold back on ambition and rented
the legendary Abbey Road studio in London.

That’s where he recorded the tracks that
would introduce his universe to the world,

including the future global hit “Ameno”.

A lot of people think Era’s lyrics are in Latin
or Ancient Greek. The truth is, they’re sung in an

imaginary, made-up language inspired by the sound
of Latin, but without any grammatical meaning.

Eric had the idea of using a made-up language,

but the person who actually created the words
was the English conductor Guy Protheroe.

The rule was clear: the meaning didn’t matter,

only the sound. Eric explained: “I don’t
tell stories, everything is based on sounds.

I let listeners project whatever
they want onto these words.”

It’s true that on other tracks he did
use real languages, like “The Mass”,

which is in real Latin; English, with the
songs “Mother” and “Looking For Something”;

and even Arabic with the song “7 Seconds”.

The powerful choir on the tracks
belongs to the English Chamber Choir,

conducted by Guy Protheroe, who was
also the male voice of the project.

The female voices are far more numerous, but the
most important ones are Harriet Jay from “Ameno”,

Florence Dedam from “Mother”,
and Lena Jinnegren from “Divano”.

But, incredibly, no one could see the
potential of these voices at the time.

When Eric took the project to
record labels, every single

one of them shut the door. For a year, he
was rejected by all the record companies.

The harshest response came from a
label executive who said with contempt:

“But come on, Eric…Enigma was ten years ago.”

For those who don’t remember, Enigma was a project
created by producer Michael Cretu that had a huge

success in 1990 with the song “Sadeness”,
mixing monk chants with electronic beats.

The executive looked at Eric and
decided Era was just a late copy,

a passing fad that had died years before.

It was a real blow, until the project
landed in the hands of Yan-Philippe Blanc,

a director at Mercury Records. He was
the only one who saw its potential.

His initial forecast was that
it might sell around 250,000

copies. But that’s where the real surprise begins!

Released in 1997, Era didn’t
sell 250,000 copies. It sold 5

million copies. It became the triumph of the year.

But if you turned on the TV hoping
to see an interview with the band,

you wouldn’t find anything. Radio
stations and the media initially

ignored the project. So Eric turned that
into a weapon: the strategy of mystery.

No photos of the artist on
the cover, no interviews,

no appearances. The creator chose
to stay in the shadows. He said,

“I’m an artist like all the others, I
just don’t show myself on the cover.”

If Eric didn’t appear, then who were
the faces of Era? The answer is simple:

they were incredible artists! Here are a few.

The man with noble features
and a melancholic gaze,

who often played a priest, a guardian,
or a time traveler in the videos for

“Enae Volare Mezzo,” “Divano,” and
“The Mass,” is Pierre Boisserie.

Pierre is a high-level dancer and
choreographer. He began his career at

the Ballet National de Marseille, working
with dance legends such as Roland Petit.

He was a soloist at the Marseille Opera
and at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse.

The beautiful woman with the intense
expression who performs the ritual

choreography brought Latin blood to the group.

She is Irene Bustamante, a Chilean
dancer and choreographer. She was the

one who created the dances in the music videos.

Her presence explains, in part,
the spiritual connection Latin

America felt with the project. Today, she
directs the CASSIS dance company in Chile.

And of course, the young girl
who stars in the “Ameno” music

video — the so-called “visionary
child” — couldn’t be left out.

Her name is Léonore Confino. That little girl
grew up to become a respected playwright,

nominated several times for the Molière Awards
(the French equivalent of the Oscars for theater).

Era’s great triumph was creating a
cinematic atmosphere without needing

to tell a closed-ended story. The music videos
weren’t just promotional pieces to sell CDs;

they were true silent films,
full of mystery and symbolism.

In the year 2000, Era 2 was released.
The album brought the hit “Divano,”

which kept the same magical aura of the first,
although Eric himself later admitted he found

the album a bit too “soft.” The truth is
that he wanted power — he wanted impact.

So in 2003, the third chapter of this great
saga was released: the album The Mass. The title

track was inspired by the classic work Carmina
Burana. It’s grand, it’s epic, it’s powerful.

Eric was very direct about
this return to a heavier sound.

In an interview, he dropped this gem: “This
is not music for pregnant women! It’s massive,

it’s heavy, it has a spiritual side.” For
him, Era is almost a “Hard Rock Opera.”

With this album, the project finally
cemented itself in 55 countries,

proving it wasn’t just a passing phase.

Curiously, Era exploded with full force
in Latin America. Countries like Mexico,

Argentina, and Brazil embraced the project in
a way that even France took years to match.

Since they speak Portuguese and Spanish,

Era’s “pseudo-Latin” sounded strangely
familiar to them. Words like “Ameno” and

“Divano” activated their cultural memories
of the church, Catholicism, and the sacred.

In Mexico, Era became a religion. The song
“Ameno” even made its way into the wrestling

ring! It became the entrance theme for Místico,
the biggest idol of Lucha Libre in the 2000s.

Every night, when the lights at Arena México
went out and the “Dori me” chant began,

wrestling turned into a sacred ritual.

For millions of Mexicans, that wasn’t a French

song — it was “Místico’s theme.”
But the project didn’t stop there.

Eric Lévi kept creating, but chose to take
the sound into new territories. In 2008,

he released the album Reborn. Here,
the music gained Arabic influences and

exotic vocals. The standout tracks
are “Reborn” and “Kilimandjaro”.

Soon after, in 2009 and 2010, came the albums
Classics 1 and 2. The idea here was bold:

take untouchable works by
masters like Bach, Vivaldi,

and Verdi and give them the “Era
treatment,” with guitars and beats.

And after a long hiatus, the most recent studio
work arrived in 2017: the album The 7th Sword.

From this record, the track that drew the most
attention was “7 Seconds,” proving that even

decades later, the formula of mixing
the old with the modern still worked.

For 23 years, Era never played a live show.
It’s true that on YouTube you can find videos

from the time when Era appeared on
French, Mexican, and Brazilian TV.

The truth is, those weren’t real
tours. They were what we call “TV

Promotional Performances.” To sell records,
the label would put together a “pocket show.”

They brought in the actors and did performances
using playback or pre-recorded backing

tracks. Eric didn’t consider that a “real
concert.” For him, it was just advertising.

So much so that an Official Era Tour — sung
live, with a full orchestra, no playback,

and Eric on stage conducting the whole thing —
only truly happened in 2019. But why wait so long?

Eric admitted in an interview with the newspaper
Le Parisien that it was his perfectionism:

“I was too much of a purist. I
thought we wouldn’t be able to

reproduce on stage the universe I created on
the record. I wanted a choir of 80 people,

that kind of crazy thing that just
wasn’t logistically possible.”

Until, in 2019, pop culture changed. Eric
realized the world had finally caught up

with his vision. He summed it up perfectly
in this sentence: “Today there is a real

resonance between what we see on TV and
Era… the time is right, and I’m ready.”

For this comeback, he assembled a
true army: 31 performers on stage,

including musicians, an 18-voice choir, and
singers who blend opera with heavy metal.

Unfortunately, figures like Pierre Boisserie
and Irene did not return. This is a new era now,

with new voices, focused on delivering the sound
Eric dreamed of for 23 years inside that tower.

And what about you? Did that
wave of nostalgia hit hard?

Which Era song marked your life?
Drop it here in the comments!

If you have a suggestion for the
next video, comment that too.

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subscribe to the channel — next week

I’ll be back with another great
story from the world of music!