Eluveitie use traditional instruments amidst guitars and loud vocals. The lyrics are often in the extinct language Gaulish. Eluveitie is Helvetic Gaulish for "I am Helvetian", referring to an inscription dating to the earliest record of the Celtic Helvetii tribe from what is now Switzerland.
The band was founded in the winter of 2002 by Christian "Chrigel" Glanzmann as a studio project featuring different people on different tracks. October the following year saw the publication of the MCD Ven (Helvetian Gaulish for "wild joy"). After Chrigel decided to make Eluveitie a real band instead of a studio project, he assembled nine other musicians, making it a full ten-piece band.
Shortly afterwards, the group performed its first shows, one including the Swiss metal festival Elements of Rock, and Eluveitie signed a contract with the Dutch record label Fear Dark which released a re-recorded Vên in 2004.
Other live performances were played, such as on some events of "Fear Dark Festivals", and even as support for the established international pagan–folk metal acts such as Korpiklaani and Cruachan. At this point, the band became full-time, and 7 of the 10 members left for various reasons, leaving Chrigel Glanzmann, Sevan Kirder, and Meri Tadic to carry on with new members.
They recruited six others, including Sevan Krider’s's brother Rafi to play bass, making Eluveitie a nine-piece band.
A limited edition tribute album to the German-Icelandic band Falkenbach was published in 2006 to celebrate their 15th anniversary. The album included Eluveitie's cover song, "Vanadis".
At the beginning of 2006, there was another change in the band's line-up. Sarah Kiener was replaced by Anna Murphy to play hurdy gurdy and Linda Suter was removed, trimming the band down to eight members.
In the second quarter of 2006, the album entitled Spirit was published on Fear Dark, and in September that same year Eluveitie toured Europe with the German band Odroeir. At the end of 2006, Eluveitie signed a new recording contract with the German label Twilight Records. In early 2007, they played at Ragnarok Festival.
In November 2007, Eluveitie signed a contract with label Nuclear Blast. The new studio album Slania (a girl's name that Chrigel saw on a 2500-year-old tombstone) was released on February 15, 2008.
On June 4, 2008, brothers Rafi Kirder and Sevan Kirder (bassist and bagpipe player, respectively) announced on their MySpace pages that they would leave Eluveitie following their concert at the Metal Camp Open Air in Slovenia on July 8, 2008.
Eluveitie's next project, Evocation, was announced in 2008. The first part of the album, Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion, was released in April 2009. The band released an official special edition of this new album as Slania / Evocation I - The Arcane Metal Hammer Edition on the May Edition from the Metal Hammer, the magazine was released on 15 April 2009 with six songs from Evocation I - The Arcane Dominion and six from Slania album.
Eluveitie announced via their website on 17 September 2009 that they were working on a new album titled Everything Remains (As It Never Was). The entire album was made available for "full prelistening" through the band's myspace page on 12 February, to remain available until the album's European release. The album was released 19 February 2010.
Eluveitie toured India in February 2010 when they played at the college campus of Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam, India. As of late February 2010, the band are on a European tour, with a schedule that concludes on 26 March at the Rocking Chair Festival in Vevey, Switzerland.
The band plan to tour the US and Canada in April 2010, beginning in San Diego, CA on 7 April.
In August 2010 they were awarded the Metal Hammer "Up and Coming 2010" title at the Wacken Open Air Festival.
Eluveitie has decided that after touring for Everything Remains as It Never Was they will record another metal album, and then work on their next acoustic album, Evocation II.
Eluveitie infuses traditional Celtic folk melodies with Gothenburg-styled melodic death metal. Eluveitie uses traditional folk instruments in their music, such as fiddles, tin whistles and flutes, and hurdy gurdies. The traditional folk tunes in their songs have been drawn from various sources, such as traditional Irish reels. While many of their lyrics are in English, some are in the ancient extinct Gaulish language. The lyrics are based on texts written in Gaulish such as prayers, invocations of the gods and other spirits.
Current members
• Chrigel Glanzmann – vocals, mandola, whistles, pipes, gaita
• Meri Tadic – violin, vocals
• Merlin Sutter – drums
• Simeon Koch – lead guitar
• Ivo Henzi – rhythm guitar
• Anna Murphy – hurdy gurdy, vocals
• Kay Brem –bass
• Patrick Kistler – bagpipes, whistles
Eluveitie
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Description
The band formed in 2002 and their first EP, Ven came out in 2003. The band then released a full-length album, Spirit in June 2006.
In November 2007, Eluveitie was signed by Nuclear Blast. The first product of the collaboration, Slania, was released in February 2008. The album peaked at number 35 in the Swiss charts and number 72 in the German charts.
Announcements
Folk metal act Eluveitie has issued the following announcement about changing the venue for the band's upcoming live show in Quebec:
"Venue change in Quebec! Our show on February 4th in Quebec will now be at the Imperial de Quebec! You can get tickets at this location."
You can also find a list of upcoming Eluveitie tour dates via the band's MySpace profile, which can be found here.
