Elis was a

gothic metal Gothic metal (or goth metal) is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy met ...

band from

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...

, formed by Sabine Dünser and Pete Streit in 2003 after the split of

Erben der Schöpfung Erben der Schöpfung (English: Inheritors of Creation) is a dark- gothic-metal/ EBM band from Liechtenstein, founded in 1998/99 by Oliver Falk. History In 1998–99, Oliver Falk started to think about another project called Erben der Schöpfung ...

in 2002. The band temporarily split up in February 2012 after lead singer Simone Christinat's departure. However, a month later, the band began doing a search for Christinat's replacement and the search was successful. Elis has since "disbanded" in order to form a new group called Zirkonium, with Swiss singer Kathrin Schlumpf as their lead vocalist.

History

''God's Silence, Devil's Temptation''

Elis began their musical career under the name '

' in 2000. In 2001, they released their first single "

Elis Elis or Ilia ( el, Ηλεία, ''Ileia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it was ...

" as well as their debut album ''

Twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this il ...

''. The band has appeared live at the Wave Gotik Festival in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, among others, has held on to favorable positioning on the DAC-Charts, and has remained well represented in the scene's press.

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

's Orkus Magazine, for example, featured Erben der Schöpfung as their top newcomer act of the month. This choice was later more than confirmed by the publications readership, who extended the honor by choosing the band as their newcomer of 2001. Following their split with Oliver Falk, the band re-emerged in 2003 under the new alias Elis (taken from the single/song by their former band). Produced at Mastersound Studio by

Alexander Krull Alexander Krull (born 31 July 1970) is a German musician who is the lead vocalist for metal band Atrocity, as well as backing vocalist in the band Leaves' Eyes. Biography Krull was born in Ludwigsburg, where he formed Atrocity in 1985. He has ...

(

Atrocity Atrocity or ''Atrocities'' or ''Atrocious'' may refer to: * Atrocity (band), a German metal band * ''Atrocities'' (album), the fourth album by Christian Death * Mass atrocity crimes, international crimes of genocide, war crimes, and crimes agains ...

Leaves' Eyes Leaves' Eyes is a symphonic metal band from Germany and Norway. They were formed in 2003 by Liv Kristine, formerly the lead singer of Theatre of Tragedy, and the entire line-up of Atrocity. To date, the band has released eight studio albums, a s ...

), ''God's Silence, Devil's Temptation'' was simultaneously released on

Napalm Records Napalm Records is an Austrian independent record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock. Originally, Napalm focused on black metal bands, such as Abigor and Summoning, and folk metal bands, such as Falkenbach and Vintersorg. The label later ...

with the re-release of Erben der Schöpfung's 2001 debut, ''Twilight''. Soon after the release of ''God's Silence, Devil's Temptation'', Elis focused their energy on writing new material for their second offering. Between their song writing and recording duties, they found time to tour in a headlining capacity with label mates Eisheilig and

The Vision Bleak The Vision Bleak is a German gothic metal duo comprising Ulf Theodor Schwadorf (famous for his work with Empyrium and Noekk) and Allen B. Konstanz. The group's lyrics are noted for their horror themes and heavily allude to works of classic writ ...

. The tour took them to Germany,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. ''God's Silence, Devil's Temptation'' was inspired by the works of Trakl and drawing on the experience gained with Erben Der Schopfung, the newly created formation recorded immediately full-length album ''God's Silence, Devil's Temptation''. In January 2004, the disc ''God's Silence, Devil's Temptation'' was # 1 in the charts at The Gothicworld.de. The same success has made the single 'For Such A Long Time'.

''Dark Clouds in a Perfect Sky''

In March 2004, they returned to the studio, under the guidance of band manager and producer Alexander Krull once more, to record the twelve new tracks featured on their second album. Released in October 2004, ''Dark Clouds in a Perfect Sky'', showed a maturation of the band's sound. A video clip for the album's opener, "Der Letzte Tag" (translated to: The Last Day), was included with the release as well. The second CD 'Dark Clouds in a Perfect Sky' caused obvious association with the best works of Within Temptation or The Gathering. The Dark Clouds tour took place in April 2005. Elis played in Germany,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and Belgium, and were supported by

Visions of Atlantis Visions of Atlantis is an Austrian metal band from Styria, founded in 2000. Inspiration came both from successful symphonic metal band Nightwish and from the myth of Atlantis. History ''Eternal Endless Infinity'' and lineup changes ( ...

and

Lyriel Lyriel are a German Heavy metal music, heavy metal band who formed in autumn of 2003 in Gummersbach. Originally playing folk metal, they turned more towards symphonic metal, symphonic and gothic metal. Lyriel has recorded five studio albums and pu ...

. The band offered a preview of the new material during festival performances at the

Wave-Gotik-Treffen The Wave-Gotik-Treffen (WGT; ) is an annual world festival for "dark" music and "dark culture" in Leipzig, Germany. 150+ bands and artists from various backgrounds (gothic rock, gothic metal, EBM, industrial, noise, darkwave, neo-folk, neo-cl ...

and

M'era Luna Festival The M'era Luna is a rock festival that encompasses a number of different styles such as metal, future pop, aggrotech, synthpop, gothic rock, dark wave, and ebm. It is held annually on the second weekend of every August, in Hildesheim, Ge ...

. Further opportunities for the fans to experience the new album live were planned for October, as the band embarked on a European Tour with Atrocity, Leaves' Eyes, and

Battlelore Battlelore are a Finnish heavy metal band from Lappeenranta, founded in 1999 by guitarist Jyri Vahvanen and bassist Miika Kokkola. The name derives from the union of the words 'battle' and 'folklore'. Many of Battlelore's lyrics concern J. R ...

. This tour ended with a performance at the

Metal Female Voices Fest Metal Female Voices Fest was a heavy metal music festival dedicated to female vocalists, held annually in the Oktoberhallen in Wieze, Belgium from 2003 to 2016. It was organized by the ''Metal Organisation'', which later changed into "2 Wild 4 age ...

3. This concert wasn't just the last of this little tour, it also was the last concert with guitarist Jürgen "BigJ" Broger, who left the band amicably soon after. Elis also appeared on a television show on German television, and video appeared in the program of 'Hell's Kitchen' channel Viva!

''Griefshire'' and death of Sabine Dünser

The third release from Elis, a concept album titled ''

Griefshire ''Griefshire'' is the third album by the gothic metal band Elis. It's their first concept album, and the last before Sabine Dünser's death. Because Sabine Dünser was the creator of the concept of ''Griefshire'' and the main songwriter of the s ...

'', was planned for release in late 2006 or early 2007. The band wanted to complete a tour with

and

, but unfortunately, on 8 July 2006, Sabine died of a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

. An announcement on the band's official website a day later stated that the album ''Griefshire'' would be released in Sabine's memory. A further announcement in September announced that the band would continue with a new singer.

''Griefshire'' and new female singer

''Griefshire'' was released in Europe on 24 November 2006 on Napalm Records. The

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n release date was 16 January 2007. On 28 December 2006 it was finally announced that the new female singer is the

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

singer Sandra Schleret, former vocalist of

Dreams of Sanity Dreams of Sanity was a gothic metal band from Austria. Founded in 1991, they released three full-length albums, before disbanding in 2002. History After forming in 1991, Dreams of Sanity released two demos in 1994 and 1996. They toured Europe la ...

and

Siegfried Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...

, and guest singer on some

Samael Samael ( he, סַמָּאֵל, ''Sammāʾēl'', "Venom/Poison of God"; ar, سمسمائيل, ''Samsama'il'' or ar, سمائل, label=none, ''Samail''; alternatively Smal, Smil, Samil, or Samiel) is an archangel in Talmudic and post-Talmudic ...

albums. After that, they started a tour that took them for the first time to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

(as guest stars for the Festival Oscuro event in August 2007). In order to show how Sandra's voice would appear on the next studio album, the band released the MCD ''Show Me The Way'', on 2 November 2007 in Europe and on 6 November 2007 in the U.S., that features Sandra Schleret on the two new versions of the song "Show Me the Way" as well as three non-album tracks from Grieshire's recording sessions, still with Sabine Dünser's voice. On 2 November 2007 a new single of 'Show Me the Way' was released on the Napalm Records label.

''Catharsis'' and onward

In early 2008, the band posted on their official bandsite that they would be working on their 4th studio album that year. In September 2008 they went to a German Mastersound studio with producer Alex Krull with a new vocalist and recorded participated a song for the album with Michelle Darkness ( End Of Green). The band performed a few live shows before entering the studio to record the new album. On 22 November 2008 it was announced that the name of the new album would be ''Catharsis'', a title dear to Sandra Schleret due to the illnesses she went through shortly before joining Elis. ''

Catharsis Catharsis (from Greek , , meaning "purification" or "cleansing" or "clarification") is the purification and purgation of emotions through dramatic art, or it may be any extreme emotional state that results in renewal and restoration. In its lite ...

'' was released on 27 November 2009 by Napalm Records. Critics for the release were from mixed to positive.

Departure of Sandra Schleret

In May 2011, the Elis web site announced that Sandra Schleret had made a decision to leave the band. The following day, the band posted that the remaining members "agreed to give it one more try, but with a fresh start." She was replaced by Simone Christinat in June 2011.

Christinat's departure and new project

In late February 2012, Simone Christinat announced to the rest of the band that she would be departing from the band, due to increased stress. A few days later, the band opted to call it quits. In March 2012, the band announced the search for a new singer for a new project. In April 2012, it was announced that the search had been successful and new material was being written. The new singer's identity was however not revealed.

Style

Elis' music style is a very particular one in gothic metal. The influences of their sound come from both

symphonic metal Symphonic metal is a cross-generic style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitar ...

and

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

, as clearly defined on their releases: the songs include most of the times an orchestral part and

death grunts A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for their ...

at the same time, making it hard to identify the band's true genre. The lyrics are another important element of Elis' music. Differently from many other gothic metal bands, whose lyrics are heavily influenced by

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

and

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

, Elis' lyrics are mainly taken from life and experiences, as well as childhood (especially on the ''

'' album). Most of the song's lyrics are written in English, with two or three songs in German per full-length album and, before Sabine Dünser's death, she was the main songwriter of them. The only exceptions are (so far) " Heaven and Hell", a

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

cover; "I Come Undone", a

Jennifer Rush Jennifer Rush (born Heidi Stern; September 28, 1960) is an American pop and rock singer. She achieved success during the mid-1980s with several singles and studio albums including the million-selling single " The Power of Love", which she co-w ...

cover; and "Ballade" and "In Einem Verlassenen Zimmer", whose lyrics are entirely taken from poems of the same (respective) names by

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

Georg Trakl Georg Trakl (3 February 1887 – 3 November 1914) was an Austrian poet and the brother of the pianist Grete Trakl. He is considered one of the most important Austrian Expressionists. He is perhaps best known for his poem " Grodek", which he wr ...

Band members

Last-known line up

*Pete Streit –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

(2003–2012) *Tom Saxer –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

death growl A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for their ...

s (2003–2012) *Max Näscher –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(2004–2012) *Chris Gruber – guitar (2006–2012) Touring member *Trevor – Drums (2009)

Former members

*Franco "Franky" Koller – drums (2003–2004) *Jürgen "Big J" Broger – guitar (2003–2005) *Tom Saxer - Bass (2003-2012) *Pete Streit - guitar (2003-2012) *Sabine Dünser – vocals (2003–2006) (died 2006)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

* ''God's Silence, Devil's Temptation'' (2003) * ''Dark Clouds in a Perfect Sky'' (2004) * ''

'' (2006) * ''

'' (2009)

Singles

* "For Such a Long Time" (2003) * "Der letzte Tag" (2004) * "Show Me the Way" (2007)

Videos

* "Der letzte Tag" (2004) * "Show Me the Way" (2009)

References

External links

Official website
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elis Liechtenstein heavy metal musical groups Gothic metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2003 Musical quintets Napalm Records artists Musical groups disestablished in 2012