Lyriel are a German heavy metal band who formed in autumn of 2003 in

Gummersbach Gummersbach (; ksh, Jummersbach) is a town in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, being the district seat of the Oberbergischer Kreis. It is located east of Cologne. History In 1109 Gummersbach was mentioned in offic ...

. Originally playing

folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for exampl ...

, they turned more towards

symphonic A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

and

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 ...

. Lyriel has recorded five studio albums and published a DVD of a live performance.

History

The band's lineup remained unchanged from their formation until 2008. Lyriel played as opening act for bands such as Elis,

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 ( ...

, Regicide, Xandria,

Schandmaul Schandmaul is a German medieval folk rock band from the Munich area. As well as using modern instruments such as the bass and electric guitar, the band also utilizes instruments typically used in Medieval folk songs such as the bagpipes, hurd ...

, Corvus Corax,

Saltatio Mortis Saltatio Mortis is a German medieval metal group. The Latin name means "dance of death". It is an allusion to the Danse Macabre, and a motto of the band is: "He who dances does not die." Members Current * Alea der Bescheidene - vocals, b ...

Oomph Oomph! is a German rock band from Wolfsburg, formed in 1989. The band pioneered the Neue Deutsche Härte movement. Their work contains lyrics in both English and German, with a shift towards German exclusively on recent albums (''GlaubeLiebeTod ...

Schelmish Schelmish was a German Mittelalter rock band from the city of Bonn. The band originally formed in 1999 for a birthday celebration for band member Des Demonia's mother. The language of their songs varies between German, English, Latin, French and ...

, Korpiklaani and

Manfred Mann's Earth Band Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's "For You (Bruce Springsteen song), For You", "Blinded by the Light" an ...

. In 2005 they toured 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 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 ...

with Elis and Visions of Atlantis, in February 2006 Lyriel played on the “Romantic Darkness Tour“ together with Regicide and Xandria. Moreover, they played on the Celtic Rock Festival at Greifenstein castle in

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

. A video was released of the show. The first studio album ''

Prisonworld ''Prisonworld'' is the debut studio album by the German folk metal band Lyriel. It contains mostly balladesque songs. Concept The song "Lind e-huil" is sung in Sindarin, one of the fictional Elvish languages created by J. R. R. Tolkien. "The Symme ...

'' was released on 17 January 2005. Especially notable is the song "Lind e-huil" which is sung in

Sindarin Sindarin is one of the fictional languages devised by J. R. R. Tolkien for use in his fantasy stories set in Arda, primarily in Middle-earth. Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by the Elves. The word is a Quenya word. Called in Eng ...

, a fictional Elvish language created by

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...

. The song "The Symmetry of Disfiguration" was inspired by

Wendy and Richard Pini Wendy Pini ''née'' Fletcher, (born June 4, 1951) and Richard Pini (born July 19, 1950) are the husband-and-wife team responsible for creating the well-known '' Elfquest'' series of comics, graphic novels and prose works. They are also known as ...

's '' Elfquest'' series. Their second studio album ''

Autumntales ''Autumntales'' is the second studio album by the German folk metal band Lyriel. Reception The ''Sonic Seducer'' praised the diversity of singer Jessica Thierjung's voice. The reviewer of ''Metal Hammer'' Germany, however, complained about the q ...

'' was published on 29 September 2006. It continues the band's style and among other songs contains a cover version of " Hijo de la Luna". The performance of the string instruments was lauded by the musical press, as well as Jessica Thierjung's singing. The track "My Favourite Dream", recorded together with Sabine Dünser of Elis, was also acclaimed as one of the harder songs on the album. In September 2008 drummer Daniel de Beer left the band and was replaced by Marcus Fidorra. Since then the lineup has changed several times. ''The First Chapters'', a remastered compilation album containing the first two studio albums was published in 2009. A new album '' Paranoid Circus'' followed on 29 January 2010. German

voice actor Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

Simon Jäger, known for dubbing actors like Heath Ledger and Matt Damon, appears as a guest artist on the album, reading an introduction and an excerpt from

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include ''Demian'', ''Steppenwolf (novel), Steppenwolf'', ''Siddhartha (novel), Siddhartha'', and ''The Glass Bead Game'', ...

's short story ''The Wolf'' in the middle of the album. German and Austrian reviews agreed that while offering a high musical standard this album lacks the general speed of the previous releases. The album was re-released on AFM Records in April 2011 with a new cover artwork and 2 bonus tracks. Lyriel signed with AFM Records in 2011. A fourth album named ''

Leverage Leverage or leveraged may refer to: *Leverage (mechanics), mechanical advantage achieved by using a lever * ''Leverage'' (album), a 2012 album by Lyriel *Leverage (dance), a type of dance connection *Leverage (finance), using given resources to ...

'' was released in February 2012. Among a mix of soft folk rock as well as symphonic metal, it features a duet with

vocalist Thomas Lindner. ''Leverage'' received positive reviews in Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom. It was however noted that the "album does lose some steam near its conclusion" and that the band should have dared to evolve towards harder metal songs. ''Leverage'' contains two songs "

The Road Not Taken "The Road Not Taken" is a narrative poem by Robert Frost, first published in the August 1915 issue of ''The Atlantic Monthly'', and later published as the first poem in the collection '' Mountain Interval'' of 1916. Its central theme is th ...

" and "Parting" that are based on lyrics by

Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloq ...

and Charlotte Brontë respectively On the extended edition there is a version of "Everything's Coming Up Roses" by

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

. The band's fifth album ''Skin and Bones'' was released in September 2014 after bassist Steffen Feldmann had left the band. In March 2015, founding member Oliver Thierjung announced that he had left the band because of health issues. He was replaced by Thomas Raser in April that year. Also in April 2015, the band released a 10-years-anniversary EP called ''10''.

Style and influences

The septet designate their music "Dark Romantic Celtic Rock". Lyriel's repertoire ranges from medievally inspired

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

s to hard

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

pieces with elements of classical and folk music. Interview. Early recordings were frequently compared to

Blackmore's Night Blackmore's Night is a British-American neo-medieval folk rock band formed in 1997, consisting mainly of Ritchie Blackmore (acoustic guitar, hurdy gurdy, mandola, mandolin, nyckelharpe, and electric guitar) and Candice Night (lead vocals, lyri ...

, but the band has evolved towards

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 ...

with

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

influences.

Band Members

Current members

*Jessica Thierjung - vocals (2003–present) *Linda Laukamp - cello, backing vocals (2003–present) *Joon Laukamp - violin (2005-2010, 2011–present) *Marcus Fidorra - drums (2008–present) *Tim Sonnenstuhl - guitars (2011–present), bass (2011) *Thomas Raser - bass, backing vocals (2015–present)

Former Members

*Claudia Schäfer - violin (2003-2005) *Daniel de Beer - drums (2003-2008) *Sven Engelmann - bass (2003-2010) *Martin Ahmann - keyboards (2003-2010) *Oliver Thierjung - guitars (2003-2013), bass (2013-2015), backing vocals (2003-2015) *Matthias Kirchler - bass (2010-2011) *Johannes Anand - violin (2010-2011) *Steffen Feldmann - bass (2011-2013) Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (2005) *''

'' (2006) *'' Paranoid Circus'' (2010) *''

'' (2012) *'' Skin and Bones'' (2014)

Compilation

*''The First Chapters'' (2009)

EP

*''10'' (2015)

DVD

*''Live auf Burg Greifenstein'' Greifenstein Castle">Greifenstein.html" ;"title="ive on Greifenstein">Greifenstein Castle(2005) contains video footage of events of the 3rd Celtic Rock Open Air festival.

References

External links

Official website
*[ Lyriel] at Allmusic {{Authority control German folk metal musical groups German symphonic metal musical groups German gothic metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2003 Musical groups from North Rhine-Westphalia