Elis (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Elis


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Origin = Vaduz, Liechtenstein
Genre = Gothic metal
Years_active = 2003 – present
Label = Napalm Records
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Current_members = Sandra Schleret Christian 'Chris' Gruber Pete Streit Tom Saxer Maximilian 'Max' Naescher
Past_members = Sabine Dünser(†) Jürgen 'Big J' Broger René Marxer Franco 'Franky' Koller
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Elis is a gothic metal band from Liechtenstein, formed in 2003 after the split of Erben der Schöpfung in 2002.

History

The beginning of Elis 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", 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 the 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 9, 2006 Sabine died of a cerebral hemorrhage. An announcement on the band's official website has stated that the album "Griefshire" would be released in Sabine's memory. A further announcement in September stated that the band would continue with a new singer.

"Griefshire"'s release 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.

Since then the band has posted on their myspace site that they will be working on their 4th studio album this year.

Lineup

Current members

*Sandra Schleret - Vocals (2006 - present)
*Pete Streit - Guitar (2003 - present)
*Chris Gruber - Guitar (2005 - present)
*Tom Saxer - Bass, Grunts (2003 - present)
*Max Naescher - Drums (2004 - present)

Former members

*Sabine Dünser - Vocals (2003 - 2006, During a band rehearsal on Friday July 7th 2006, Sabine Dünser collapsed from suffering a cerebral hemorrhage and died a day later in the hospital.)
*Franco "Franky" Koller - Drums (2003 - 2004)
*René Marxer - Drums (2004)
*Jürgen "Big J" Broger - Guitar (2003-2005)

Discography

Full-length albums

*"God's Silence, Devil's Temptation" (2003)
*"Dark Clouds in a Perfect Sky" (2004)
*"Griefshire" (2006)
*"TBA" (2009-2010)

ingles

*"Der Letzte Tag" (2004)
*"Show Me The Way (MCD)" (2007)

Videos

*"Der Letzte Tag" (2004)

External links

* [http://www.elis.li/ Official website]
* [http://www.napalmrecords.com/promo/elisp.html Elis] at Napalm Records
* [http://www.myspace.com/elisofficial Official Elis Myspace]
* [http://www.elis-forum.de Elis fan forum]
* [http://www.sandraschleret.net/ Sandra Schleret official homepage]
* [http://www.thecrimsondragon.com/ Sandra Schleret fanpage "The Crimson Dragon"]
* [http://www.myspace.com/sabinememorial Sabine Dünser Memorial Myspace]

Videos

* [http://videos.napalmrecords.at/videos/elis.wmv "Der Letzte Tag"] (2004) at Napalm Records (WMV)