Elis

Elis is a gothic metal band from Liechtenstein, formed in by Sabine Dünser and Pete Streit in 2003 after the split of Erben der Schöpfung in 2002.

History

Formation and God's Silence, Devil's Temptation

Elis began their musical career under the name 'Erben der Schöpfung' in 2000. In 2001, they released their first single "Elis" as well as their debut album Twilight. The band has appeared live at the Wave Gotik Festival in Leipzig, among others, has held on to favorable positioning on the DAC-Charts, and has remained well represented in the scene's press. Germany'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 (Atrocity, Leaves' Eyes), God's Silence, Devil's Temptation was simultaneously released on Napalm Records 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 tour took them to Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium.

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 Dark Clouds tour took place in April 2005. Elis played in Germany, Austria and Belgium, and were supported by Visions of Atlantis and Lyriel. The band offered a preview of the new material during festival performances at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen and M'era Luna Festival. 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. This tour ended with a performance at the Metal Female Voices Fest 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.

Griefshire and death of Sabine Dünser

The third release from Elis, a concept album titled Griefshire was planned for release in late 2006 or early 2007. The band wanted to complete a tour with Leaves' Eyes and Atrocity, but unfortunately on July 8, 2006 Sabine died of a cerebral hemorrhage. 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 November 24, 2006 on Napalm Records. The North American release date was January 16, 2007. On December 28, 2006 it was finally announced that the new female singer is the Austrian metal singer Sandra Schleret, former vocalist of Dreams of Sanity and Siegfried, and guest singer on some Samael albums.

After that, they started a tour that took them for the first time to Mexico (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 November 2, 2007 in Europe and on November 6, 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.

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. The band performed a few live shows before entering the studio to record the new album. On November 22, 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.

Style

Elis' music style is a very particular one in gothic metal. The influences of their sound come from both symphonic metal and doom metal, as clearly defined on their releases: the songs include most of the times an orchestral part and death grunts 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, love and death, Elis' lyrics are mainly taken from life and experiences, as well as childhood (specially on the Griefshire 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 two exceptions were Heaven and Hell, a Black Sabbath cover, and In Einem Verlassenen Zimmer, whose lyrics are entirely taken from a poem of the same name by austrian poet Georg Trakl.

Band members

Current members

• Sandra Schleret – vocals (Since 2006)
• Pete Streit – guitar (Since 2003)
• Chris Gruber – guitar (Since 2005)
• Tom Saxer – bass guitar, death growls (Since 2003)
• Max Naescher – drums (Since 2004)

Former members

• Sabine Dünser – vocals (2003–2006)
• Franco "Franky" Koller - drums (2003–2004)
• René Marxer – drums (2004)
• Jürgen "Big J" Broger – guitar (2003–2005)

Discography

Studio albums

• God's Silence, Devil's Temptation (2003)
• Dark Clouds in a Perfect Sky (2004)
• Griefshire (2006)
• Catharsis (2009)

Singles

• "Der Letzte Tag" (2004)
• "Show Me the Way" (2007)

Videos

• "Der Letzte Tag" (2004)
• "Show Me the Way" (2009)

External links

• Official website
• Elis at Napalm Records
• Elis at MySpace