Eluveitie

Biography

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Eluveitie (2002-present): a Folk metal band from Winterthur, Zürich,, Switzerland.

wiss folk metal band Eluveitie hail from Winterthur, Zürich, founded in 2002 by Chrigel Glanzmann (unclean vocals/mandola/whistles/pipes/gaita/acoustic guitar/ bodhrán/harp/sitar) after failing numerous attempts to form an actual band, he created Eluveitie in the winter of 2002 as a studio project featuring various musicians on each track. The musicians had no obligations to the group other than to record their parts in the studio. The project's first demo, Vên (Helvetian Gaulish for "wild joy"), was released in 2003. Vên was intended as just a studio project of Glanzmann's, but its success led to the recruitment of a full band in the form of Gian Albertin (vocals/bass/mouth harp/effects), Dario Hofstetter (drums), Dani Fürer (guitars (lead)), Yves Tribelhorn (guitars (rhythm)), Philipp Reinmann (Irish bouzouki), Dide Marfurt (bagpipes/hurdy gurdy/bouzouki/bodhrán) and Mättu Ackermann (fiddle) along side Glanzmann for the release of the same titled EP a few months later in 2004.

The band then released a full-length album, Spirit, in June 2006 with the membership of Ivo Henzi (guitars (rhythm)), Merlin Sutter (drums), Rafi Kirder (bass), Sevan Kirder (Irish flute/tin whistle/bagpipes/vocals (backing)), Meri Tadic (fiddle/vocals (female)), Linda Suter (fiddle/vocals (female)), Sarah Kiener (hurdy gurdy/bass-shalm/crummhorn/zugerörgeli/vocals (female)), Sime Koch (guitars (lead)) and Glanzmann.

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In November 2007, Eluveitie was signed by 'Nuclear Blast' and soon after the group rose to fame following the release of their next album, Slania (2008; a girl's name that Glanzmann saw on a 2500-year-old tombstone), peaking at number 35 in the Swiss charts and number 72 in the German charts. This time, the album featured only one small membership change in the form of Anna Murphy (hurdy gurdy/vocals (female)).

The band's style incorporates characteristics of melodic death metal combined with the melodies of traditional Celtic music. They use traditional European instruments, including the hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes, amidst guitars and both clean and harsh vocals. Their lyrics include references to Celtic mythology, particularly of Celtic Gaul. The lyrics are often in a reconstructed form of the extinct ancient language Gaulish. The name of the band comes from graffiti on a vessel from Mantua (c. 300 BC). The inscription in Etruscan letters reads Eluveitie, which has been interpreted as the Etruscan form of the Celtic (h)elvetios ("the Helvetian"), presumably referring to a man of Helvetian descent living in Mantua. Featuring new members, Päde Kistler (scottish highland pipe/redpipe/whistles) and Kay Brem (bass (acoustic, fretless)), Evocation I - The Arcane Dominion (2009) followed.

With the follow-ups, Everything Remains as It Never Was (2010) and Helvetios (2012), Kay Brem took bass, while Rafael Salzmann too lead guitars and Nicole Ansperger (violin/cello).

For Evocation II - Pantheon (2017), another major line-up change occurred in the form of Matteo Sisti (bagpipes/whistles/mandola), Alain Ackermann (drums/percussion), Jonas Wolf (guitars (rhythm)), Michalina Malisz (hurdy gurdy) and Fabienne Erni (vocals (female)/celtic harp/mandola); violinist Nicole Ansperger left due to family obligations but would then later return in 2016 before recording had been started; while Shir-Ran Yinon departed, claiming that her contract had expired. The next album Ategnatos followed in 2019 along with the live set Live at Masters of Rock, while Gwydion (2022) would be a two track set in collaboration with Faun.