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Eluveitie ( ; )Chrigel Glanzmann: "Eluveitie is a name in Gaulish language, which is an ancient Celtic language. Since it's not a living language anymore, nobody really knows how it's pronounced like. All we have today of this language is scientific reconstruction and in today's science it's pronounced as "El-Vey-Ti", but really, it's hard to know.
:: Metalist Magazine :: Interviews :: Eluveitie
is a Swiss
folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for example ...
band from
Winterthur Winterthur (; ) is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. With over 120,000 residents, it is the country's List of cities in Switzerland, sixth-largest city by population, as well as its ninth-largest agglomeration with about 14 ...
,
Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
, founded in 2002 by Chrigel Glanzmann. The project's first demo, ''Vên'', was released in 2003. ''Vên'' was a studio project of Glanzmann's, but its success led to the recruitment of a full band, and the re-release of '' Vên'' as an EP in 2004. The band then released a full-length album, '' Spirit'', in June 2006. In November 2007, Eluveitie was signed by Nuclear Blast. The group rose to fame following the release of their first major-label album, '' Slania'', in February 2008. The album peaked at number 35 in the Swiss charts and number 72 in the German charts. 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 The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-turned crank, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin (or nyckelharpa) bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar ...
and
bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, N ...
, amidst guitars and both clean and harsh vocals. Their lyrics include references to
Celtic mythology Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to the Celtic peoples.Cunliffe, Barry, (1997) ''The Ancient Celts''. Oxford, Oxford University Press , pp. 183 (religion), 202, 204–8. Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed ...
, particularly of Celtic Gaul. The lyrics are often in a reconstructed form of the extinct ancient language
Gaulish Gaulish is an extinct Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, ...
. The name of the band comes from graffiti on a vessel from
Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...
( 300 BC). The
inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
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.


History


Formation, early releases and ''Spirit'' (2002–2007)

After failing numerous attempts to form an actual band, Christian "Chrigel" Glanzmann 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 but to record their parts in the studio. The name of the band comes from graffiti found in
Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...
around 300 B.C.E. In Etruscan letters, the inscription read "eluveitie", interpreted in the
Etruscan language Etruscan ( ) was the language of the Etruscan civilization in the ancient region of Etruria, in Etruria Padana and Etruria Campana in what is now Italy. Etruscan influenced Latin but was eventually superseded by it. Around 13,000 Etruscan epigraph ...
as "elvetios" ("The Swiss"). The inscription was probably a reference to the
Helvetii The Helvetii (, , Gaulish: *''Heluētī''), anglicized as Helvetians, were a Celtic tribe or tribal confederation occupying most of the Swiss plateau at the time of their contact with the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC. According to Ju ...
people who lived in Mantua. October the following year saw the publication of the MCD ''Vên'' (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 Korpiklaani (Finnish language, Finnish for ) is a Finnish folk metal band from Lahti that was formerly known as Shamaani Duo and Shaman. History Shamaani Duo While other folk metal bands began with metal before adding folk music, Korpiklaani st ...
and Cruachan. (Chrigel sent the first MCD to Keith from Cruachan at this time for his opinion.) At this point, the band became full-time, and 6 of the 10 members left for various reasons, leaving Chrigel Glanzmann, Sevan Kirder, Meri Tadić and Dide Marfurt to carry on with new members. They recruited six others, including Sevan Kirder's brother Rafi to play bass. 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". In the second quarter of 2006, the album entitled '' Spirit'' was published on Fear Dark. Although the official release date was 1 June 2006, it was made available on their first official 'tour' in a series of 'Fear Dark Festivals' in May 2006, playing alongside label mates Morphia (HOL) & Royal Anguish (USA), as well as Taketh (SWE). In 2006, After the release of the Spirit album, there was another change in the band's line-up. Sarah Wauquiez was replaced by Anna Murphy to play
hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-turned crank, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin (or nyckelharpa) bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar ...
and Linda Suter was removed, trimming the band down to eight members.


''Slania'', ''Evocation I'' and ''Everything Remains'' (2007–2012)

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 15 February 2008. On 4 June 2008, brothers Rafi 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 8 July 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 eight songs from ''Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion'' and five from ''Slania''. 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 on 19 February 2010. Eluveitie toured Europe and North America extensively in 2010. In August 2010, they were awarded the ''Metal Hammer'' "Up and Coming 2010" title at the
Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a Heavy metal music, heavy metal music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all ...
.


''Helvetios'' and ''Origins'' (2012–2015)

Eluveitie released '' Helvetios'', another metal album, in 2012, which received very favorable reviews. In an interview with Metal Blast magazine, Chrigel Glanzmann revealed that he had already started writing new material for ''Evocation II'', the follow-up to their 2009 acoustic album, as well as some new metal songs. During their tour in South America, Anna Murphy, the hurdy-gurdy player and clean vocalist, was reported to be sick on 26 January 2013, and had to take a flight to Switzerland on short notice. Despite this, however, the band continued their tour without her. On 29 August 2013, it was revealed that Eluveitie had been working on a new album, and that their ''Helvetios World Tour'' will be the last of their time playing live (apart from their ''Eluveitie & Friends Festival'') before fully working on the new album. On the 11th of December, it was revealed that Nicole Ansperger will be the successor of longtime member Meri Tadić on the violin. In March 2014, Eluveitie won the Swiss Music Awards' Best Live Act National award. In April the same year, the band announced a headlining European tour, with support acts Arkona and Skálmöld. On 14 May, the band announced a new album scheduled for release on 1 August 2014, titled '' Origins''. Original artwork created by Chrigel Glanzmann was released as well, along with the theme of the album, which revolves mainly around Gaulish mythology. In early June, the band announced on their Facebook that they will be releasing their lead single for ''Origins'', titled "King", on 13, the same month. Eluveitie released the official music video for the song on 3 July. In November, in the middle of a European headliner tour, Patrick "Päde" Kistler was replaced by Matteo Sisti. After a week of silence he released a statement on his official Facebook profile explaining his point of view about the leave.


Line-up changes and ''Evocation II'' (2015–2017)

On 3 August 2015, the band announced the departure of violinist Nicole Ansperger because her family situation, as she described, "...makes it impossible for me to be on the road with my band constantly." Israeli violinist Shir-Ran Yinon joined the group on tour as her replacement, having been selected through an open audition to which she had submitted a video. On 5 May 2016, Merlin Sutter was replaced by Alain Ackermann, Anna Murphy was replaced by Michalina Malisz and Ivo Henzi was replaced by Jonas Wolf. Statements by the band and the three musicians indicated that Sutter had been expelled from the group, with Murphy and Henzi choosing to leave with him. The three stated that they would start producing new songs together while still making touring commitments with Eluveitie until their last concerts scheduled in June. They eventually started the band Cellar Darling. In July 2016, the departure of Shir-Ran Yinon was announced, claiming that her contract had expired, and Nicole Ansperger returning to the band. In September, Eluveitie announced on Facebook that they started working on the second part of ''Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion''. The album, entitled '' Evocation II: Pantheon'', was released on 18 August 2017. In January 2017, the band unveiled their new line-up, with Fabienne Erni. Erni had been introduced to the band by Jonas Wolf, the two having met while attending a musical college in Denmark. Upon joining the band, Erni started learning to play the Celtic harp to compliment Eluveitie's assortment of folk and metal instruments and has taken on a position as frontwoman for the band.


''Ategnatos'' (2017–present)

On 14 October 2017, the band announced via social media that they were working on a new album, and were to due to start recording after their ''Maximum Evocation'' tour. The band also revealed that they had recorded a single in advance of the tour, at Tommy Vetterli's New Sound Studio, entitled "Rebirth". The single was released on 27 October 2017, along with a music video produced by Wolfgang Wolman and Oliver Sommer. "Rebirth" marked the first non-acoustic record produced by the new line-up. On the band's official Instagram account, it was announced the new album is called '' Ategnatos''. It was released on 5 April 2019. On 2 June 2022, the band released a brand new single "Aidus" along with a music video. On 5 July, the band announced that Michalina Malisz left the band on good terms. On 14 October, the band unveiled another single "Exile of the Gods" and its corresponding music video. On 7 April 2023, Nicole Ansperger announced via social media that she was planning to leave Eluveitie. Despite this, on 25 January 2024, Ansperger confirmed she was still a member of the band, though five months later on 22 May, she revealed prior to that she had written a letter to the band informing of her wish to resign which they allegedly did not acknowledge and stated her reasons to leave following a dispute of her finance within the band. However, a week later on 29 May, Eluveitie confirmed Ansperger's departure and the arrival of her replacement Lea-Sophie Fischer.


Musical style

Eluveitie infuses traditional Celtic folk melodies with
Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
-styled melodic death metal. Eluveitie uses traditional folk instruments in their music, such as fiddles, tin whistles and
flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...
s,
bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, N ...
and hurdy-gurdies. The traditional folk tunes in their songs have been drawn from various sources, including traditional Irish reels. While many of their lyrics are in English, some are in the ancient extinct
Gaulish language Gaulish is an extinct Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switzerl ...
. In some instances, the two languages are intertwined throughout a song. All of the lyrics on their 2009 release '' Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion'' are in Gaulish (except the first song "Sacrapos – At First Glance"). Their lyrics are based on texts written in Gaulish such as prayers, invocations of the gods and other spirits.Transit Magazine, n°47, été 2009, Eluveitie, interview of Christian Glanzmann by Dave, p. 28


Members

;Current members * Chrigel Glanzmannunclean vocals, mandola, whistles,
pipes Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to: Objects * Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules ** Piping, the use of pipes in industry * Smoking pipe ** Tobacco pipe * Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circu ...
, gaita,
acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
,
bodhrán The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A Goatskin (material), goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or ot ...
,
harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...
(2002–present); sitar (2018–present) *Kay Brem – bass (2008–present) *Rafael Salzmann –
lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...
(2012–present) *Jonas Wolf – rhythm guitar (2016–present) *Alain Ackermann –
drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
(2016–present) *Fabienne Erni – clean vocals, celtic harp (2017–present) *Lea-Sophie Fischer – violin, hurdy-gurdy (2024–present; touring musician 2023) ;Former members ;Former guest musicians *Mina the Fiddler – 5-string viola (2009) *Oliver s. Tyr – Irish bouzouki (2009) * Alan Averill – vocals (2009) *Torbjørn "Thebon" Schei – vocals (2010) *Brendan Wade – uilleann pipes (2010) *Dannii Young – spoken word (2010) *Fredy Schnyder –
hammered dulcimer The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion-string instrument which consists of String (music), strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board (music), sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set bef ...
(2009, 2011) ;Live guest musicians *Nicolas Winter – bass (2015–2016) * Liv Kristine – vocals (2016) *Martina Lory – vocals (2016) *Laura Fella – vocals (2016) *César Gonin – bass (2018) *Carmen Busch – violin (2019–2022) *Julie Bélanger Roy – violin (2019, 2023) *Jukka Pelkonen – unclean vocals (2023) *Adrienne Cowan – unclean vocals (2023) *Yannick Urbanczik – bass (2023) ;Timeline


Discography

*'' Spirit'' (2006) *'' Slania'' (2008) *'' Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion'' (2009) *'' Everything Remains (As It Never Was)'' (2010) *'' Helvetios'' (2012) *'' Origins'' (2014) *'' Evocation II: Pantheon'' (2017) *'' Ategnatos'' (2019) *'' Ànv'' (2025)


References


External links


Official websiteOfficial MySpace
{{Authority control 2002 establishments in Switzerland Celtic metal musical groups Celtic language revival Gaulish language Melodic death metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2002 Nuclear Blast artists Swiss folk metal musical groups Swiss heavy metal musical groups Winterthur Mixed-gender bands English-language musical groups from Switzerland