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Eluveitie (CH)

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(en.wikipedia.org)

Eluveitie (/ɛlˈveɪti/ el-VAY-ti) is a Swiss folk metal band from Winterthur, Zurich, founded in 2002 by Chrigel Glanzmann. The project's first EP, 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.

Eluveitie describe themselves as "[t]he new wave of folk metal". 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.

Characteristics

Eluveitie infuses traditional Celtic folk melodies with Gothenburg-styled melodic death metal. Eluveitie uses traditional folk instruments in their music, such as fiddles, tin whistles and flutes, bagpipes 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. 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.

(de.wikipedia.org)

Eluveitie (ausgesprochen «el-veiti») ist eine neun Mitglieder umfassende schweizerische Folk-Metal-Band aus Winterthur, deren Mitglieder ursprünglich aus allen Teilen der Schweiz kommen. Die Band kombiniert in ihrer Musik keltische Folklore mit Metal-Klang (meist von Death Metal beeinflusst), weshalb man sie dem Celtic Metal zuordnen kann. Die Texte der Band orientieren sich an der Geschichte, dem täglichen Leben und der Spiritualität des keltischen Stammes der Helvetier und sind teilweise in einer rekonstruierten Form des helvetischen Gallisch geschrieben. Der Bandname selbst geht auf eine Inschrift auf einer Tonscherbe aus Mantua zurück. Auf dieser steht in einem etruskischen Alphabet eluveitie, die etruskische Form des keltischen Wortes Helvetios (‹der Helvetier›), geschrieben. Man geht davon aus, dass der Eluveitie einer von Helvetiern abstammenden etruskischen Familie angehörte.