Eluveitie – The New Wave Of Folk Metal …


“Est. 2002″

Eluveitie’s saga of success began just when mainman and mastermind Chrigel Glanzmann decided to form ELUVEITIE with the goal to fuse gothenburg styled melodic death metal with ancient folk melodies and themes to a powerful mixture that would soon become the „New Wave Of Folk Metal“. That was back in 2002 and Chrigel only meant to form a studio project.

Slania (2008)

Of course all that is history by now and the so called „studio project“ grew into a respected, well-known and active band. A relentless amount of touring and recording was all the band did in the past two years after having signed to Nuclear Blast Records. Their label debut „Slania“ marked the first chart entry (Switzerland: #35, Germany: #72) and was followed by massive touring activities all around the globe throughout 2008.

Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion (2009)

In 2009 the band fulfilled their dream of producing an all acoustic folk album without shredding guitars or growling vocals – for the first time in the bands history Hurdy Gurdy player Anna Murphy took over vocal duties. A masterpiece of folk music that fascinated fans and press alike. „Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion“ of course also hit the charts hard – Switzerland: #20, Greece: #23, Germany: #60.

Everything Remains… As It Never Was (2010 – 2011)

2010 & 2011 saw the band touring even more, but also dropping their most heavy and harsh album to date in February 2010: “Everything Remains… As It Never Was” – a contradictory title that, also in contradiction to its increased heaviness, hit the charts as high as never before: Switzerland: #8, Germany: #19, Austria: #22, Greece: #23, USA: #23 (Billdboard Heatseekers), Finland: #30.

Helvetios (2012)

Enter 2012, ELUVEITIE are set to lift the bar once again. With “Helvetios” the band created what is called the essence of their music by combining elements of all their efforts so far – taking them even further. From the raw and dark power of their early works to the anthemic tracks on “Slania” to the acoustic mysticism and beauty of “Evocation” to the heaviness and death metal brutality of “Everything Remains…”. No doubt – “Helvetios” took ELUVEITIE not only one step but a whole lot of steps further!

The Early Years (2012-2013)

Over the course of the band’s 10th anniversary, it’s now about time to scrutinize their early days closely, in which the foundation for today’s success of the pioneers of their scene was laid.

It happened in winter of 2002/2003 that Chrigel started ELUVEITIE as a studio project to breathe life into his exceptional musical vision. The first self-financed EP “Vên” was recorded in spring of 2003, was released in the same year – and completely sold out about six months later. The logical conclusion of the rhapsodical public reaction was quickly found: ELUVEITIE had to become a “real” combo with a consistent line-up for the purpose of being able to play live henceforth (the first concert in the band’s history as support act of TRIMONIUM, MENHIR and SKYFORGER took place on the 5th of February 2004 in Winterthur, Switzerland). Quickly, ELUVEITIE were identified as an exceptionally gifted live band which enabled them to indulge in tour life extensively within the next months together with prestigious acts such as AMON AMARTH, FINNTROLL and KORPIKLAANI, before they returned to the studio in winter of 2005 to lay down their eagerly anticipated debut album. This very record named “Spirit” finally came out in 2006 and let the Swiss around maestro Glanzmann go down in the annals of metal as the founders and figureheads of the “New Wave Of Folk Metal”. The rest is history…

Now ELUVEITIE have intensively recapitulated this exciting booster phase of their career. They’ve re-recorded the entire rare “Vên” EP in the line-up of 2012, by which a modern dimension was added to the legendary material, without the slightest loss of its historical splendour. Together with a re-mastered version of the full-length debut “Spirit”, this results in a profound retrospect that will send both long-time followers and nostalgia addicts as well as ELUVEITIE-newbies and those who have been chasing for these releases for years into rapture. So look forward to a very special journey through time!