Xandria

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2009)

Xandria
Background information
Origin	Bielefeld, Germany
Genres	Symphonic metal
Years active	1997–present
Website	www.xandria.de
Members
Kerstin Bischof Marco Heubaum Philip Restemeier Nils Middelhauve Gerit Lamm
Former members
See Below

Xandria is a band, founded in Bielefeld, Germany by Marco Heubaum, in 1997. The band's music combines elements of symphonic metal with light electronic elements and rock.

After various demos and great success on different MP3 portals, they released their first album in 2003, entitled Kill the Sun, which reached #98 on the German music charts. The follow-up album, Ravenheart (2004), stayed on the charts for seven weeks, reaching #36. In 2005 they released their third album Whitch Reached #30 on the German charts India.

Xandria began recording their fourth album, Salomé - The Seventh Veil, on December 14, 2006. It was released on May 25, 2007 and reached #41 on the German charts

Lisa Middelhauve resigned on April 30, 2008 citing personal reasons and discomfort in being the band's front woman. The band has since found a new singer, Kerstin Bischof a.k.a. Lakonia, best known for her collaborations with the band Axxis^[1].

Members

Current members

• Kerstin Bischof a.k.a. Lakonia – Vocals
• Marco Heubaum – Vocals, guitar, keyboards
• Philip Restemeier – Guitar
• Nils Middelhauve – Bass
• Gerit Lamm – Drums

Former members

• Lisa Middelhauve (2000-2008) – Vocals, piano
• Roland Krueger (1999-2004) – Bass
• Andreas Maske (2000-2001) – Guitar
• Jens Becker (1999-2000) – Guitar
• Niki Weltz (1994-1997) – Drums
• Andreas Litschel (1996-1997) – Keyboards
• Manuel Vinke (1996-1997) – Guitar
• Holger Vester (1997) – Bass
• Nicole Tobien (1997) – Vocals

History

In the mid-nineties, there was a short-term predecessor of today's Xandria. Inspired by bands such as Tiamat and Paradise Lost, Marco Heubaum and a friend of his ventured into heavy metal sounds and atmospheric soundscapes. Due to differing views on the musical orientation, the completed band split in 1997. As a result, Marco began honing his own musical vision before looking for musicians again.

In 1999 Marco introduced his first songs for the project to the new Xandria line-up, consisting of Roland Krueger with his former colleagues of a just faded Bielefeld metal band. Among the songs introduced were "Kill the Sun", "Casablanca", and "So You Disappear", which came into being in its original version as early as 1994 as the first song of this musical journey.

2000 is the year that makes the project a real band, after five songs which had been recorded at a small studio had been presented to the public for the first time at the end of the year in the internet: On sites like "mp3.de" or "besonic.com", the songs of the demo unexpectedly become the underground hits of the year, a huge fan base is growing very fast, among others, for example, in the U.S.A., too, through the site "mp3.com" - so much feedback could not remain without consequences, and Marco shaped the project into a real band. After two changes in line-up, the band now consists of Marco, Lisa, Gerit, Roland and Andy, Philip's predecessor, who is to join in as late as the year to follow. As an interesting background information it can be added that on the first demo songs half of the vocals are provided by Marco himself, because the idea of using female vocals originally was thought for a few parts only, which became more and more as time went by. At first, only "Kill the Sun" was to be presented by a female voice - inspired by "Lady Rosenred", a song by the Swedish band Lake of Tears. But now Marco more and more derives pleasure from Lisa's vocal performance, and already on those songs written now in the new line-up (among those, for example, is "Ginger"), Marco is hardly to be found as a singer.

In 2001 the band is more and more well-known in the underground, and the band is booked for first small concerts. Also, first connections to the music business develop, among others to Udo Zimmer, later to become Xandria's manager, who actually detects the five-piece on one of those music community websites that established Xandria's popularity. Several labels come knocking at the door, things are getting more serious, and his musical studies in far Oldenburg force second guitar player Andy to decide against the band that is now working hard to be prepared for the step into a bigger public. Philip is looked for and found via ad in their home town Bielefeld, but Lisa and him find out that they already have been acquainted with each other.

2002 sees the band playing live gigs in the underground and working hard on new demos because Drakkar Records show interest and want to hear more from the band whose technical artistic standard of course has developed since the 2000 demo recordings. Finally, Drakkar are convinced, the parties agree and sign the record deal in December - while the band is already working on the first longplayer with producer Dirk Riegner.

In 2003, eventually, it is time: "Kill the Sun" hits the stores in May and even enters the German album Top 100 - a remarkable success for a debut. After the band had already played several shows with Subway to Sally in spring, the first bigger tour is launched with Tanzwut. During these three weeks across Germany the band gains lots of new fans and parties extensively with them. After festivals like "Méra Luna" and another tour with the gothic band ASP, Xandria during the winter entrenched themselves in the studio again. The year so full of events has left its marks with many new ideas and thus Xandria do not want to wait with the second album, which now is taking shape in co-operation with the successful producer of Wolfsheim, José Alvarez-Brill, in his Belgian studio.

2004 starts with sad news for Xandria. because bassplayer Roland quits the band for professional reasons. The quest for a replacement begins, and after many auditions, finally, a successor is found in Nils Middelhauve. He is not unknown to the band, either: Several years ago, Lisa supported Nils' former band Visible Touch as a solo artist. They were also known by Marco, who had written on them in a local fanzine once. And so it could go on. The second album "Ravenheart" hits the stores on May 24th, and turns out to be a surprise success: Top 40 in the German album charts, where the album remains for seven weeks. Xandria's first video shot for the song "Ravenheart" enjoyed high popularity with the TV watchers, for it had become a short film full of fantasy with many atmospheric pictures and as such stands out of the tiring clip standard. Meanwhile, Xandria has been heard of in the Far East as well and the band is invited to the biggest Open Air festival of South East Asia: The gig at "Busan International Rock Festival" becomes a real show highlight in front of 30,000 enthusiastic spectators. After a show at "Summer Breeze Festival", the second video for the song "Eversleeping" is shot in an old castle near Berlin. The single - an E.P., actually, for it includes three new songs (among others a remake of a very old band song from 1997, "So Sweet") - is released on October, 11th and remains in the charts for two weeks. Afterwards, the band kicks off their first, much longed for headlining tour in November, together with Finnish bands Entwine and Lab as supporting acts, which is a hell of a fun to everyone and establishes the band as a premier live band. Especially the higher percentage of rock sound was appreciated by the fans, and thus this newly gained energy found its way into the new songs already being written. The band enters the studio for the first time in December to work on the successor of "Ravenheart".

The first half of 2005 sees the band without a break working in the studio and writing new songs. There are many new ideas, for example the co-operation with the famous German movie score orchestra "Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg" and an Irish folk band, to venture into new sound dimensions. After months of work, which forced much sweat, stress and many discussions from the band, the album is finished eventually. And it was worth working on: It surely is the most ambitious and mature piece of work so far. The claim to sound a bit harder was realized besides the typical soundscapes to the band's satisfaction. August, 22nd becomes the date of release. But before that, Nils and Lisa get married after having been a couple for almost one year, and thus the fans will not find a Lisa Schaphaus on the CD but a Lisa Middelhauve.

2006 finally the tour to India takes off. In the cold months of Winter the band plays some warmth into the hearts of their fans. Festivals and shows in England, Russia and Mexico follow, before the band concentrates on songwriting again, after having collected many new ideas over the year. The band realizes that the new material is more rock and band oriented, and the logical decision is to head for a studio that is famous for its good rock sound: the Principal studios, that are very close to the hometown of Xandria, Bielefeld. And its also a logical decision to take on production duties on their own this time.

2007 then begins at Principal studios in Senden, Münster (Germany). The recordings are done within a very short period of time, because it was the plan not to put month after month in small details, to conserve spontanity and vitality. That's one reason why it's achieved the first time, that the band's vitality and dynamics the fans love about their live shows is really put on a record. For two songs Entwine frontman Mika Tauriainen, who is well known to the band since the tour 2004, when Entwine supported Xandria, can be heard with guest appearances. The completed album “Salomé – The Seventh Veil” is released on May 25th, and around that date Xandria do some shows to celebrate it the right way with their fans.

Discography

The band has been noted for having a penchant for myths with an exotic flair, incorporating elements of symphonic metal along with orchestral backing. Their mythical leanings have been consistently maintained throughout their albums and EPs. Following the stir that the band had already created on the underground scene with several demo songs which had been released on the Internet, Xandria laid the cornerstone of a long career in 2003 with their debut "Kill The Sun".

The release was greeted by enthusiastic reactions and made directly for the German Media Control Charts, followed by a tour all over Germany.

When they headed for the album charts one year later on the black wings of "Ravenheart", carried by Celtic winds, a mythical element had become an ingredient of their music. They stayed in the charts for a full two months, making no. 36, and enchanted their growing fan base with the fantasy clip which accompanied the title track "Ravenheart" and has come to be considered a classic of the genre. The press were unanimous in their praise, and tours and festival performances followed. Summer 2004 saw the band play the main stage of the Summer Breeze festival and the Busan International Rock Festival in Korea - the biggest in Southeast Asia -, where they wowed 30,000 people. "Ravenheart" went on to beat the pants off the debut's success, the band joining the ranks of the luminaries of the scene.

Their bombastic third album release, "India", recorded together with the Babelsberg Film Orchestra and a number of guest musicians, followed in 2005 and proved that the band had continued to mature. "India" took them to no. 30 of the charts and for the first time also to other countries, such as Russia, the UK, and Mexico.

Their retrospective "Now & Forever - The Best of Xandria", released on June 6th 2008, is a cross section of Xandria's many facets, featuring songs from all four albums, including their most recent release, "Salomé - The Seventh Veil", which was another chart success. This best-of package also includes a live DVD featuring footage from their Summer Breeze 2007 show, complemented by a number of cuts from the band's history.

Albums

• Kill the Sun (May 3, 2003)
• Ravenheart (May 24, 2004)
• India (August 22, 2005)
• Salomé - The Seventh Veil (May 25, 2007)
• Now & Forever - Best of Xandria (June 6, 2008)

EPs

• Eversleeping (2004)

Demos

• Xandria (1997)
• Kill the Sun (2000)

Singles

• "Ravenheart" (2004)
• "Eversleeping" (2004)
• "Save My Life" (2007)

Promo singles

• "Kill the Sun" (2003)
• "In Love With the Darkness" (2005)
• "Sisters of the Light" (2007) as Xandria vs. Jesus on Extasy

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Xandria

• Official website
• Now And Forever - Russian Fan Site
• Royal Artist Club - Official Mobile Blog
• Xandria on Last.fm
• Xandria MySpace
• Salome: The Seventh Veil Independent Review