*Eluveitie (pronounced el-way-tea) weave a timeless spell that includes all the enchantment of traditional Celtic Paganism fused with the warrior’s soul of Melodic Death Metal. Named for the Etruscan word for the Helvetii tribe from what is now Switzerland, some of the spoken word parts in their album are scribed in the ancient Gaulish language. An excellent example of their unique style is evident on their third album, Slania (Nuclear Blast).
Check out the video for Inis Mona!
Hailing from Switzerland and blending traditional and modern instrumentation, Eluveitie are: Chrigel Glanzmann (violins, mandolin, acoustic guitar, tin and low whistles, uilleann pipes, gaita, bodhran), Meri Tadic (fiddle, vocals), Anna Murphy (hurdy-gurdy, vocals), Sevan Kirder (tin and low whistles, Irish flute, gaita,vocals), Rafi Kirder (bass, vocals), Ivo Henzi (guitar), Simeon Koch (guitar, vocals), and Merlin Sutter (drums).
However, in June, Sevan and Rafi announced their departure from the band’s ranks.
In July, the band welcomed two new members: Päde Kistler who plays diverse kinds of bagpipes, as well as whistles and acoustic guitars, Päde is a multi-instrumentalist and especially an experienced piper. And Kay Brem who is described as a long-time rock'n'roll bastard of the Swiss metal scene, a very skilled bass player that will for sure kick your arses.
The band wasted no time hitting the road after Slania’s release. They were an integral part of the Pagan Fest Spring tour before hitting the European Summer Festival circuit. Not content to rest on their laurels, they will be back to the U.S. and Canada again in September and October in a package that will include Kataklysm, Dying Fetus, and Keep of Kalessin, before heading back to Europe yet again for a long-form tour with Finntroll, Primordial, Equilibrium, Manegarm, and Catamenia. The Crowgrrl sent e-mail questions to the band while the PaganFest tour was in full swing, but it was August by the time Chrigel had a chance to catch his breath and send answers our way.
Are your songs actual traditional Celtic songs, or do you write your own in that flavor?
They’re completely our own songs, yet we partly interweave traditional Celtic tunes within them.
What is the songwriting/arranging process like for you?
Oh, that’s pretty much different from song to song. Basically there always kind of a feeling, an emotion or kind of an “inner image” at the very beginning of a song. Before I actually start composing a song I already know fixedly what the song will express (musically, emotionally and lyrically). Also quite often - but not always - I firstly have the folkish tunes in my head, before I catch some metal riffs.
Basically it works like this, that I write and arrange a song on my own. When I have it ready, I roughly record the song (for all instruments) and hand it over to the band. After that each member starts refining the lines for his/her instruments.
You add some traditional elements like Uilleann Pipes and Gaita to your music? Is it hard to use them live with the amplification of the more common Metal instruments like guitars and bass?
Well, it can be quite tricky because those instruments have a much lower volume, so they need a lot of amplification. But of course that’s something you can get arranged with. Needs some experience though. But I guess, we’re doing quite fine today.
”Calling the Rain” is a pure tempest. What are some of the inspirations behind that one?
Oh, thank you! The main inspirations for and roots of that song actually were some really strong feelings I have about nature. I mean, if you’re out in some Alpine scenery, surrounded by huge mountains, you begin to feel very small and unimportant. And as well, up in the Alps you’re really exposed to Nature’s raw powers - a normal, simple storm can be quite dangerous in the Alps. So, you also begin to feel very perishable. But within such partly ominous feelings your heart also becomes very calm in a wondrous way and gets fraught with childlike elation, bliss and contentment.
In such moments you can catch the glimpse of an insight about Nature’s eternal sovereignty and laws and you find yourself a little part within a immeasurable, perfectly “functioning” whole.
One can actually do the traditional Irish “3’s and 7’s” dance steps with “Giamonios” – how does that translate in a Metal venue?
Hahahah, actually surprisingly well! It seems that Metalheads are enthused and ungrudging folkdancers! :)
”Tarvos” is definitely infused with a warrior’s soul! What was behind that track?
It’s actually narrates an old Gaulish (continental Celtic) myth - the story of Tarvos (Gaulish for “bull”) and his three cranes. It’s an ancient Celtic parable that tells us, how the seasons came to be, when the earth was young.
And yes, it’s actually a pretty fierce story - with Esus (the Celtic god of the hunt) hunting Tarvos and their savage battle which ends up in Tarvos being slain (which was the genesis of the Earth’s first winter), but miraculously being reborn again (whereby Spring came back to the Earth again).
”Bloodstained Ground” is probably the most extreme track. What can you tell us about that?
It’s a song about war - which isn’t such a “glorious” and “heroic” thing, as it is sometimes presented in the Pagan Metal scene. At least that’s my opinion. “Bloodstained Ground” deals with the battle on the fields of the Gaulish city Bibracte (in today’s France), which was probably the final and fatal battle during the “Gaulish war” between the Roman Empire and the Celtic tribes of Gallia (about 50 BC). Yet the song doesn’t just narrate the chronological events of that battle, but it tries to describe the thoughts and feelings (and questions?) of a young Gaulish warrior, standing on those doomed fields with many thousands of his fellow braves, awaiting the Roman Legions before the battle begins. Seeing the Roman armies appearing ominously on the horizon, that must have felt strange as fucking hell... I mean, realizing that you’re confronted with colossal armies, that aren’t just coming by to enforce your death, but to wipe out your people, your tribe, your culture from the face of the earth, that’s more than shattering.
So, it actually is a very emotional song - full of anger, maybe hate and maybe sadness.
”Elembivos” seems to march through a time portal. What can you tell us about that one?
Well, the lyrical and musical idea behind the songs on “Slania” is: that the album kinda runs through the “great wheel”, which is the cycle of one year in Celtic mythology. In the Celtic culture this is something very central and important. The “great wheel” has four main “spokes”, each one of them standing for the beginning of a season and each one being celebrated with one of the four big feasts of the Celtic calendar. For each of those four Celtic holidays we recorded one instrumental track. “Elembivos” is the last one of those four - standing for (and named after) the last station of the years wheel of time: The beginning of Autumn (after the Celtic calendar the year begins with Winter - on the 1th of November).
What’s your personal favorite song on the new album?
Hmmm, I like “Bloodstained Ground” and “The Somber Lay” pretty much. :)
Any stories behind the cover art?
Actually not. We were just looking for a nice album title. One day I - I was just doing researches about some Celtic inscriptions - I accidentally came across an ancient tombstone of a Celtic girl, that lived in the eastern Helvetic Alps about 2500 years ago. Her name was “Slania”. We immediately loved that name a lot and decided to make it our new album’s name. That was also the foundation of the cover artworks concept then. So, there’s actually not really much of a story behind it. For us it’s just a nice “hook-up”. Let’s say it this way: The little Slania (which you can see on the cover) takes the listener by the hand, leads him back in time and tells him about her people and their way of life.
Any video plans for any songs from “Slania”?
Well, we’ve done a videoclip to the song “Inis Mona”.
You’re currently on the Paganfest Tour? How is it going so far?
The tour was absolutely great! I mean, for all the bands on this tours package (Tyr, Turisas, Ensiferum & us) it was the first time to tour the US. We were looking forward as hell, but of course we did not exactly know what to expect. But the reactions were really fantastic and overwhelming. So, we’re more than content with this tour. And of course it was also good to be on the road together with some very good bands and awesome people!
What is your live show like?
I think the main thing is the energy. An Eluveitie concert is just full of raw energy, wildness and savageness. We’re very active on stage, none of us is just standing around while playing. And also, I think, an Eluveitie concert is just a huge fucking party we celebrate with our fans. :)
Does your live set list contain mostly songs from your new album, or your other albums?
Well, at the moment we want to present our new material of course. But we always try to give the fans a good mix of everything.
What kinds of merch are you bringing with you this time?
We always have different kinds of textiles - girlies, shirts, longsleeves and/or hoodies - with diverse designs. Of course a Slania-design and some tour editions. Yet the most of all we like our new “instrument-merchandise”: It’s a design (available as girlie, shirt and hoodie) in black/white, with a quite unconventional, lightly xylograph-like drawing from Maria Picasso, which simply shows all our acoustic folk instruments. Really like that design, it rocks, haha!
What do you do on your “down-time” on the road? Do you bring movies or videogames? If so, which ones?
We get drunk, shag groupies and take loads of drugs, haha! ;) Joking! Okay, the one with getting drunk is true, haha. Besides that we’re reading a lot of books, working on new songs and practicing. And of course administrational concerns of our band keep us busy too. Some of us are playing videogames though, or basically it’s just our guitarist Sime. He owns one of those modern game console things (you know, those small, portable “Gameboy [Amazon Link] like” things), with which he uses to play some soccer and car racing games, I believe. But actually I don’t really know... haven’t much of clue about such things, haha.
Any long-form DVD plans?
We’re talking about it, yes. But there’s nothing concrete at the moment.
How Hands-On are you with your Website and MySpace pages?
Virtually 100%. :) Well, it’s a lot of work though. And I think we’ll be forced to give that wheel out of our hands some when, because we can’t afford enough time. But the direct contact with our fans is something we like a lot and which is important to us. And that one we’ll keep anyway.
Is there anything that I didn’t ask that you want to talk about?
All left to say is: Thank you for the interview and thanks to all readers for their interest in our work! We raise our horns to you! And hopefully we’ll see you at one of our shows!
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