Music / Eluveitie

The Pantheon. L-R: Jonas, Matteo, Nicole, Alain, Chrigel, Fabienne, Kay, Michalina, Rafael

Catoues caletoi
Urit namantas anrimius
Ro- te isarnilin -urextont,
Au glannabi rhenus
Ad ardus alpon,
Tou' magisa matua
Tou' brigas iuerilonas...

Slania's Song

Eluveitie (el-VAY-ti) are a Swiss Folk Metal band. Eluveitie blends elements of Melodic Death Metal with Celtic folk music, all with a pagan theme. As far as folk metal bands go, they are a fairly well known and well established act, having released 8 full length studio albums since 2006. One of them, Slania (2008) charted in Switzerland and Germany.

Members

Current lineup

• Chrigel Glanzmann – vocals, mandola, whistles, pipes, gaita, acoustic guitar, bodhrán, harp (2002–present)
• Kay Brem – bass (2008–present)
• Rafael Salzmann – lead guitar (2012–present)
• Matteo Sisti – bagpipes, tin whistle, mandola (2014–present)
• Alain Ackermann – drums (2016–present)
• Jonas Wolf – rhythm guitar (2016–present)
• Nicole Ansperger – violin, backing vocals (2013–2015, 2016–present)
• Fabienne Erni - vocals, celtic harp, mandola (2017–present)
• Annie Riediger – hurdy-gurdy (2022–present)

Former members

• Merlin Sutter – drums (2004–2016)
• Ivo Henzi – rhythm guitar (2004–2016)
• Anna Murphy – hurdy-gurdy, vocals (2006–2016)
• Shir-Ran Yinon - violin, vocals (2015–2016)
• Patrick "Päde" Kistler – bagpipes, whistles, vocals (2008–2014)
• Meri Tadić – violin, vocals (2003–2013)
• Siméon Koch – lead guitar, vocals (2004–2012)
• Sevan Kirder – bagpipes, flutes, whistles, vocals (2003–2008)
• Rafi Kirder – bass, vocals (2004–2008)
• Linda Suter – violin, vocals (2004–2006)
• Sarah Wauquiez – hurdy-gurdy, crumhorn, accordion, vocals (2005–2006, guest 2009)
• Dani Fürer – lead guitar (2003–2004)
• Severin Binder – vocals, bagpipes, flutes, whistles (2004–2005)
• Philipp Reinmann – Irish bouzouki (2003–2004)
• Dide Marfurt – hurdy-gurdy, bagpipes (2003–2005)
• Gian Albertin – bass, vocals, sound effects (2003–2004)
• Dario Hofstetter – drums (2003–2004)
• Yves Tribelhorn – rhythm guitar (2003–2004)
• Mättu Ackermann – violin (2003–2004)
• Michalina Malisz – hurdy-gurdy (2016–2022)

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)

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O bright sun of the night, I lift my tropes up to thee...

• Afterlife Express: "Black Water Dawn" is about crossing the waters of death to get to the Otherworld.
• All There in the Manual: The liner notes to Ategnatos explain the concepts behind each track.
• Animal Motifs: Ategnatos seems to like ravens.
• As the Good Book Says...: The narration in "Worship" is based on the Book of Revelation.
• Audience Participation Song: "Inis Mona", "Slania's Song" & "The Call of the Mountains". They normally preform the last one in Swiss German ("De Reuf vo de Bärge") to allow this.
• Badass Boast: The Title Drop stanza of "Mine Is the Fury".
• Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: In the Pantheon lineup we have Nicole, Michalina, and Fabienne respectively.
• Book Ends: Evocation I begins and ends with two different arrangements of "Sacrapos"; the same tune's main melody is used in the intro and outro tracks of Evocation II as well.
• Call-Back: "Sucellos" has a sequel in Pantheon (though it's spelled "Svcellos" in that version). "Tarvos" as well.
  • Ategnatos has a few:
    • The first minute into the Title Track is essentially a recall to their previous single "Rebirth", but then when the album tracklist is revealed you realize they also inverted this trope, as "Ategnatos" opens the album while the album version of "Rebirth" appears near the end. The album closer "Eclipse" is a straight Call-Back to both.
    • "Deathwalker" has the line Aidus esti - io gnātā uer axsin bitous uertassit in uextlon which comes up again in "A Cry in the Wilderness".
    • "The Raven Hill" recalls the legend of how Lugdūnon, the Gallic city that Eluveitie wrote another song about back in Everything Remains, came to be.
• Careful with That Axe: If you listen to Anna on "The Siege" and compare her to Chrigel, it sure seems like this.
  • Fabienne has a go at this in "Rebirth", and lets loose a rather strained one in "Catvrix".
• Celtic Mythology
• Concept Album:
  • The Evocation albums. The Arcane Dominion centers around Cernunnos and takes some of its lyrics from curse tablets. Pantheon is a collection of prayers dedicated to the Celtic deities.
  • Helvetios is about the Roman conquest of Gaul, from the Gauls' point of view.
  • Ategnatos revolves around archetypes and rebirth.
• Cover Version: Powerwolf invited this band to cover "Ira Sancti (When the Saints Are Going Wild)" for The Sacrament of Sin. What this band came up with is a Gaulish Gag Dub where the lyrics call for a lady to bring some beer.
• Department of Redundancy Department: 'Panacean nothingness when nothing is left.'
• Epic Rocking: Quite a few.
• Eternal Recurrence: Touched upon in "Mine Is the Fury". Druids believed that there was no end of the world but a new beginning every time.
• Ethereal Choir: The epilogue to "Breathe".
• Everything's Louder with Bagpipes: And hurdy-gurdies, too!
• Folk Metal: Of the Celtic variety.
• Fractured Fairytale: "Omnos" tells a variant of the Little Red Riding Hood story in which the girl falls in love with the wolf, but he rejects her and she drowns herself.
• God-Emperor: Sesroneos, whose point of view the song "Worship" is written in.
• Harp of Femininity: Fabienne.
• Homesickness Hymn: "Inis Mona" is told from the perspective of a well-respected Druid who spent much of his youth obtaining a Druidic education, and while he doesn't regret that choice, he does find himself yearning for the home and times of his youth.
• Horrible History Metal
• I Am the Band: Chrigel. Out of the lineup from Slania, Chrigel is the only one who remains.
• Indecipherable Lyrics: Unless of course you speak the dead language Gaulish, which Eluveitie uses for some lyrics.
• Last Note Nightmare: A subtle one in "Worship".
• Lotus-Eater Machine: "The Slumber" is this in shades.
• Lyrical Dissonance:
  • Songs like "The Siege" and "Thousandfold" are more upbeat and their sound doesn't really match the lyrics.
  • "Brictom" seems like quite a positive song compared to their other songs. And then you learn it's based off of a curse tablet and the lyrics have deliberately been left untranslated. By scientists...
  • "Vianna" is a much softer song but the lyrics are supposedly about a girl who was sacrificed.
  • "Omnos". Omnos in English is "fear". Listen to the song and read the translated lyrics with it.
• Miniscule Rocking: Some of their breather tracks. "Ancus" in particular is just 12 seconds long.
• Mood Whiplash: The intro to "Threefold Death". You'll get used to it.
• Motor Mouth: Mostly averted, unless when the music is upbeat and/or fast (e.g. "Brictom", "Epona").
• Nature Metal: "Call of the Mountain" is about thinking of their home, Switzerland in the Swiss Alps.
• Non-Appearing Title: Numerous.
  • "Everything Remains as It Never Was" only drops half its title: it will remain as it never was.
• Precision F-Strike: Chrigel unleashes one in "Rebirth".
• Rearrange the Song:
  • The first half of "Grannos" is an acoustic folk rework of "Slania's Song".
  • "Trinoxtion" is basically a recycle of the words to "Samon", the Album Intro Track to Slania.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to offshoot Cellar Darling's blue. Inverted in their social media activity.
  • Chrigel (blue) and Anna (red), as Chrigel seems to be the serious one while Anna likes to have fun. Chrigel might be the blue to Fabienne's red as well.
    • Musically, though, Chrigel is the red to Anna's and Fabienne's blue.
• Revolving Door Band: Just open the Members folder further up this page!
  • Later the bands hurdy-gurdist Michalina left and started her own folk-metal band LYRRE.
• "Setting Off" Song: "Luxtos" from Helvetios: At the rise of a new dawn, rose the children of the sun to inhabit a kingdom augustly crowded in rock mass vast.
• Siamese Twin Songs: Lots. Notably, "The Slumber" and "Worship" which are two halves of a cycle, the first from the perspective of the Celts being subjugated by Sesroneos, and the second from Sesroneos' perspective.
• Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Fabienne◊ invoked the redhead part in her early days with the band, but has embraced her brunette hair a bit more come Ategnatos.
• Silly Love Songs: While not a love song, "Home" has the lines: "On that day, in our place I recall the smell of the rain. And I'd protect you from them if you want me to take, take you there again! Good night my love, let me watch you sleep from here or above..."
• Soprano and Gravel: Played with. Anna can alternate between clean singing and a Death Growl as harsh as the male vocalists. Fabienne leaves the gravel to Chrigel mostly, but does have a go at Careful with That Axe in the background.
• Special Guest: Randy Blythe, of all people, narrates the intro to "Worship". Meri Tadić returns to narrate "Trinoxtion".
• Spoken Word in Music: Most of their short breather tracks features spoken Gaulish.
  • "Worship" has a notable English one that sounds like a transmission opening the track.
• Start My Own: Since Merlin being fired and Ivo & Anna leaving to follow him, they have since made a band called Cellar Darling (named after Anna's solo album).
• There's No Place Like Home: "The Call of the Mountains" and "Breathe".
• Translated Cover Version: "The Call of the Mountains" has versions in Swiss German, Romansh, French, and Italian as bonus tracks on Origins.
• Two Girls to a Team: Anna and Meri/Nicole.
  • Now three girls to a team with Michalina, Nicole, and Fabienne.
• Villain Song: "Worship" is one of these for Sesroneos, as he declares all the people to be his chattel. The narration accompanying the song also compares him to The Beast of Revelation.
  Like sheep to slaughter
  Like moths to flame
  Down on your knees
  You shall remain
  And you shall praise
  And fear my name!
• Walking the Earth: Multiple songs on Helvetios.

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