About Eluveitie
Eluveitie .mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-smallGerman: ) is a Swiss folk metal band from Winterthur, Zürich, 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. 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 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 . The inscription in Etruscan letters reads eluveitie, which has been interpreted as the Etruscan form of the Celtic *elvetios , presumably referring to a man of Helvetian descent living in Mantua.
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 around 300 B.C.E. In Etruscan letters, the inscription read "eluveitie", interpreted in the Etruscan language as "elvetios" . The inscription was probably a reference to the Helvetii people who lived in Mantua.
October the following year saw the publication of the MCD Vên . 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 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 & Royal Anguish , as well as Taketh . 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 and Linda Suter was removed, trimming the band down to eight members.
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