Leaves' Eyes | |
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Leaves' Eyes at Henkersfest Stuttgart, Germany in 2007
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Background information | |
Origin |
Ludwigsburg, Germany Stavanger, Norway |
Genres | |
Years active | 2003–present |
Labels | Napalm, AFM |
Associated acts | |
Website | Leaveseyes |
Members |
Elina Siirala Alexander Krull Thorsten Bauer Pete Streit Joris Nijenhuis |
Past members | Sander van der Meer Mathias Röderer Chris Lukhaup Martin Schmidt Nicholas Barker Moritz Neuner Alla Fedynitch Seven Antonopoulos Roland Navratil J.B. van der Wal Felix Born Liv Kristine |
Leaves' Eyes is a German-Norwegian symphonic metal band from Stavanger, Norway and Ludwigsburg, Germany. They were formed in 2003 by Liv Kristine, the former lead singer of Theatre of Tragedy and the entire line-up of Atrocity. To date, the band has released six studio albums, a single, six EPs, one live album and a DVD.
Most of Leaves' Eyes lyrics, written by Liv Kristine, concern Norse mythology and the Viking Age. The melodic singing vocals of Liv Kristine are occasionally backed up by death growled vocals from Krull, identified under the vocal style Kristine refers to as "beauty and the beast".
Leaves' Eyes have often featured naturalistic themes in their music since the release of their 2004 debut album, Lovelorn. Many of the lyrics to this album were inspired not only by nature, but also by sagas and legends drawn from Norse mythology. The band was received well at Wave Gotik Treffen 2004, the band's stage premiere.
Every band member had previous professional experience in other musical endeavors for years before joining Leaves' Eyes, thus essentially making it a supergroup. Frontwoman Liv Kristine sang in the band Theatre of Tragedy in the mid 1990s. This Norwegian band was one of the first to feature a female voice in the metal scene, and their club hit Tanz der Schatten became synonymous with the direction and expression of a whole musical genre. In addition, Liv Kristine was present in the pop music scene and sang the songs to TV hits such as Tatort and Schimanski. The supporting members of the band hail from the death metal band Atrocity.
One year after Lovelorn, Leaves' Eyes released the follow-up album Vinland Saga in 2005, inspired by Viking Leif Eriksson. The album's first single, Elegy, charted in Germany for four consecutive weeks. Television station ProSieben used Elegy as the official song for the TV series NUMB3RS.