Music Monday: Elis
22 Jan 2024 19:38![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
extrapenguinElis was a (symphonic) gothic metal band from Liechtenstein, active 2003-2012, with four albums and one EP, all of which I will be covering here. The mood on everything is very much smooth, solemn, dark, and grieving, if that makes sense. They sing mostly in English, but with occasional tracks in German.
2003: God's Silence, Devil's Temptation
The first record! Their musical stuff is already all there, even if it's semi-obviously their first album. Full playlist. Favorite songs: Devil's Temptation (below), My Only Love
2004: Dark Clouds in a Perfect Sky
More smooth and polished in sound, especially in the singing. Full playlist. Favorite songs: Der letzte Tag (below), Die Zeit
2006: Griefshire
Elis went full concept album, with Griefshire being about a cult and a pair of brothers escaping it. It's also very much about grief, as the vocalist, Sabine Dünser, collapsed of a cerebral hemorrhage and died during the final recordings, so the album was released posthumously. Full album. My favorite song is Show Me the Way:
2007: Show Me the Way (EP)
The band found a new singer, Sandra Schleret, and recorded a version of Show Me the Way with her on the vocals, then released it with three previously unreleased demo songs from the Griefshire sessions, which are the last songs with Sabine's voice. (I think was the best way to do a vocalist switch they could've done.) Full EP. My favorite is, again, Show Me the Way:
2009: Catharsis
Their only full record with Sandra Schleret. They used male growls a bit more than previously here. Full album. Favorite songs: Twinkling Shadow, Mother's Fire (below), The Dark Bridge
After Catharsis, they apparently had trouble hanging on to vocalists and disbanded in 2012. I suspect that Sabine's traumatic death also played a part, since she seems to have been an active part of the composition process – they got her baby, Griefshire, out, and put out one more album to try and keep the band alive, then just ... couldn't, in the end.
2003: God's Silence, Devil's Temptation
The first record! Their musical stuff is already all there, even if it's semi-obviously their first album. Full playlist. Favorite songs: Devil's Temptation (below), My Only Love
2004: Dark Clouds in a Perfect Sky
More smooth and polished in sound, especially in the singing. Full playlist. Favorite songs: Der letzte Tag (below), Die Zeit
2006: Griefshire
Elis went full concept album, with Griefshire being about a cult and a pair of brothers escaping it. It's also very much about grief, as the vocalist, Sabine Dünser, collapsed of a cerebral hemorrhage and died during the final recordings, so the album was released posthumously. Full album. My favorite song is Show Me the Way:
2007: Show Me the Way (EP)
The band found a new singer, Sandra Schleret, and recorded a version of Show Me the Way with her on the vocals, then released it with three previously unreleased demo songs from the Griefshire sessions, which are the last songs with Sabine's voice. (I think was the best way to do a vocalist switch they could've done.) Full EP. My favorite is, again, Show Me the Way:
2009: Catharsis
Their only full record with Sandra Schleret. They used male growls a bit more than previously here. Full album. Favorite songs: Twinkling Shadow, Mother's Fire (below), The Dark Bridge
After Catharsis, they apparently had trouble hanging on to vocalists and disbanded in 2012. I suspect that Sabine's traumatic death also played a part, since she seems to have been an active part of the composition process – they got her baby, Griefshire, out, and put out one more album to try and keep the band alive, then just ... couldn't, in the end.
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Date: 2024-01-23 14:53 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-23 17:46 (UTC)