Metal Storm logo
Eluveitie - Anna Murphy, Ivo Henzi And Merlin Sutter Out Of The Band


Things aren't well in the Eluveitie bandcamp. In fact, things are quickly imploding. Today, the Swiss metallers announced several departures from the band, including drummer Merlin Sutter, Merlin's close friends Anna Murphy and Ivo Henzi. It seems like the band asked the drummer to leave and the two others followed suit. Could this be the end of the band? According to the remaining members, it won't be.

You can also read individual statements posted by Anna Murphy here, Merlin Sutter here and Ivo Henzi here.

The band posted a lengthy statement online. Here is part of it: "With a heavy heart we have to announce that Eluveitie will go through another change soon. We have decided to part ways with our longtime drummer Merlin Sutter. In the consequence of this, Merlin's close personal friends Anna Murphy and Ivo Henzi decided to leave Eluveitie as well.

"We all developed a lot over the last ten years - not only as a band, but also as individuals. And we partly developed in different directions; different goals, wishes and ideas emerged. Over the last years we all had to deal with interpersonal challenges within the band. Instead of pulling together, our days have rather been shaped by wearing friction and constant clash of interests. And thus we felt that we have become something we shouldn't have; that we've diverged from what Eluveitie was always meant to be - a band, a family, a passionate and deep-rooted group of musicians, where heart's blood can flow freely! Eluveitie was always meant to be about 'rock'n'roll', passion and also about 'carrying the torch' of the Celtic spirit. Yet over the years we have partly diverged from our roots, which is not good.

"Each and every single one of us is definitely a passionate musician! But in this group constellation, we seemed to rather cumber, than to inspire each other. The band has suffered from this for a longer time now. So we ended up in this painful situation where the mentioned facts have made it impossible to us to continue like this and we came to the point eventually, where we believe, it's best to go separate ways. It was a terribly hard decision to make and it hasn't been done carelessly, but with tears and a heavy heart. We know that this is tough to handle - for everybody. And we know it sucks badly that things developed this way. Above the fact that this is hard to handle for us personally and emotionally, we are painfully aware of how much it also must disappoint you, our fans... which makes it even harder.

"We do not part from each others in hatred though. From our hearts we wish Merlin, Anna & Ivo only the very best for their future ways and also all the best of luck and success for all their further musical projects. For we're sure their musical journey will go on and it will be great. And maybe our ways will even cross again in future, in a different way.

"For us in Eluveitie this now also means a lot to deal with. We do not want to look at it as yet another line-up change! For us it means to seclude ourselves for a while, to take the inward turn and to recollect. We will go back to our roots and become again what we once have been. We will still play the next couple of shows together with Merlin, Anna and Ivo. Their last performance with Eluveitie will be the FortaRock - The Festival in Nijmegen (NL) on the 5th of June. So you should grab your chance and come to one of these shows!"



The common statement from Merlin, Anna and Ivo: "For more than 10 years, 6 studio albums, and nearly a thousand shows in 46 countries on 6 continents, Eluveitie has been at the very centre of our lives. We've had the immense privilege to bring joy to fans from around the world, exploring a diverse range of places and cultures few ever get to experience in their lifetime.

"We have now been faced with an impossible situation, and left with no choice but to announce our departure. Personal differences and decisions taken by the remaining members have made it impossible for any of us to continue. None of us wanted to leave Eluveitie, and it is important to us that you, the fans, know that disappointing you is the most difficult part in this decision. We can only hope for your understanding. Without your support we would have achieved nothing, and we are eternally grateful for it.

"Chrigel Glanzmann will continue on his path just as we will on ours. Therefore, the music you love will evolve and branch out, and we encourage you to look forward to it. In the meantime, we will give it everything on stage one more time, hopefully with you, while completing the current world tour as well as our last European shows in May and early June. Our last show in Switzerland takes place in Basel on June 3rd, and our final show with Eluveitie will follow the same weekend at Fortarock Festival in Holland. We would like to clarify that Shir-Ran Yinon, Eluveitie's amazingly talented current (non-voting) session violin player and our good friend, has not been involved directly in these unfortunate events. She will continue to perform (and kick ass!) with Eluveitie for the Summer festivals and will then continue on to new adventures as well.

"As for the three of us: our musical journey together is far from over, and we are incredibly excited to share new music with you in the future. If you would like to continue supporting us, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the like - we will share news about our future projects as soon as they are ready. In fact, following our official channels is the most certain way to be among the first to hear new music.

"Please also take the time to visit Anna Murphy, Merlin Sutter and Ivo Henzi now, where we have shared personal statements and where we will be doing our best to answer your questions, or just reflect with you on all the good times in the past decade. We do ask you to respect that the particulars of what happened should remain private, and thank you for your understanding."

Source: facebook.com
Band profile: Eluveitie
Posted: 05.05.2016 by Bad English


Comments

‹‹ Back to News
Comments: 30   Visited by: 391 users
05.05.2016 - 19:45
RaduP
CertifiedHipster
Well that's the end of this band
----
Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking
One day there will be no heart at all?
Loading...
05.05.2016 - 19:48
ohmayhem

Well shit.
Loading...
05.05.2016 - 19:58
xclaw

Not really sure how the band would reshape/come back from this but I'll stay optimistic.
Loading...
05.05.2016 - 20:04
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
This is end of a band. Well this time no sex and screwing when you have ring involved, but still Anna is strong personality she wont lose her self in music world, but band can, who will see Sara Sturm or Gudrun Ensling as singer ? Well ...we need MS awards every months
----
Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
Loading...
05.05.2016 - 20:06
WorpeX
Made of Metal
Anna Murphy and Sabine Scherer both leave their bands on the same day. That's a rough pill to swallow.
Loading...
05.05.2016 - 20:53
YourRequiem

RIP in pepperonies.
Loading...
05.05.2016 - 21:16
Gothmog_Motsham

Good news. This band is becoming too repetitive and incredibly bland especially with Murphy's god awful shrieks of vocals. Maybe new sound will come up of this. Since Chrigel is in the band then their creative force is still intact. What they need is more metal.
Loading...
05.05.2016 - 21:24
FYA
Destroyer
Written by Gothmog_Motsham on 05.05.2016 at 21:16

Good news. This band is becoming too repetitive and incredibly bland especially with Murphy's god awful shrieks of vocals. Maybe new sound will come up of this. Since Chrigel is in the band then their creative force is still intact. What they need is more metal.


y'all mothafukas need metal

But overall - you've got a point.
Loading...
05.05.2016 - 21:33
Gothmog_Motsham

Written by FYA on 05.05.2016 at 21:24

Written by Gothmog_Motsham on 05.05.2016 at 21:16

Good news. This band is becoming too repetitive and incredibly bland especially with Murphy's god awful shrieks of vocals. Maybe new sound will come up of this. Since Chrigel is in the band then their creative force is still intact. What they need is more metal.


y'all mothafukas need metal

But overall - you've got a point.


I'd be extremely happy if they somehow pulled off a Bran Barr or Aes Dana sound, you know Celtic black\ death metal kinda thing.
Loading...
05.05.2016 - 21:44
AngelofDeth
Cyborg Raptor
Wow, this sucks. Despite having issues with Helvetos I loved Origins and have always kept hope for an Evocation part II one day.

I don't know what exactly happened but it's not hard to imagine that Chrigel could've become resentful that Anna had become the face/star of the band despite him being the founder, frontman and lead songwriter of the group. Would make sense too considering the statements about how they've changed into something else and they need to go back to their 'roots as they have become more and more dependent on Anna since Evocation. That's my theory at least.

Hopefully their new project will be good, although I remember her solo stuff released a couple years ago being underwhelming... As for the Elu, I'm not too interested in them going back to their roots as the female vox were a nice addition to break the homogeneity of their sound.
----
pewpew.. gotcha
Loading...
05.05.2016 - 22:18
SiamKor

I'm extremely ambivalent about this. I like all their albums (I don't have any big complaints with Everything Remains, Helvetios or Origins - some people call them repetitive, but I like them), though I'm not very fond of Evocation. If I could choose, I'd want them to remain as they were.

That said, I hope Chrigel's plans for the future include more metal. Stuff like Gaulish War, Calling the Rain, Havoc or King. As for Anna, Merlin and Ivo, I hope their plans for the new band are metal enough. I heard some of Anna's solo stuff and it didn't grab me. I'll give their new stuff a try.

I can't say songs like Call of the Mountains and Omnos are my favourites. If that's all Eluveitie did, I probably wouldn't be a fan of the band. That's not because of Anna's voice, though - she's great in The Siege (growls) and Slania's Song (normal vocals), and her background vocals towards the end of King break me. I just like the heavier songs better, and the songs where she's lead vocal tend to be lighter.

It's like someone said above - they need more metal. I don't like that this happened, but hopefully the end result is more metal. That's always a good end result.

Anyway, I'm seeing them in Basel on the June 3rd. I hope they get along well enough that the concert doesn't suck.
Loading...
05.05.2016 - 23:47
LordGrim#1241

My wife and I were just discussing these guys today and how they haven't done anything for a while. Welp... R.I.P. To be fair, I wasn't too sure if they had anything left in the tank anyways, so I'm not really disappointed. They had their run, ran out of material pretty quickly. Maybe only a handful of songs are actually enjoyable after Slania, so maybe this is good. No more mediocrity from a band you expect so much more out of.
Loading...
05.05.2016 - 23:48
SoUnDs LiKe PoP

Go figure, I FINALLY got into these guys with their last album...
----
I lift weights and listen to metal
Loading...
06.05.2016 - 00:07
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Written by WorpeX on 05.05.2016 at 20:06

Anna Murphy and Sabine Scherer both leave their bands on the same day. That's a rough pill to swallow.

who is she?
Sabine Scherer
----
Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
Loading...
06.05.2016 - 01:01
Dominus
The Shooter
Written by Bad English on 06.05.2016 at 00:07

Written by WorpeX on 05.05.2016 at 20:06

Anna Murphy and Sabine Scherer both leave their bands on the same day. That's a rough pill to swallow.

who is she?
Sabine Scherer

Deadlock vocalist.
Loading...
06.05.2016 - 09:47
AljanahLyra

I don't know if that's the case, but maybe Chrigel isn't the easiest person to be around.
For me this statement that they will continue on their path and he will continue on his...it sounds like they weren't on the same page for a long time...
But it's really sad...they had so many line up changes...
----
"I'm not going to fuck you Carmilla, I'm too pissed off."
~Godbrand, Castlevania~
Loading...
06.05.2016 - 11:01
Windrider
Raureif
That's sad, but not a drama. I think Chrigel is the heart of the band, of course the others were very important too, but I am confident that Eluveitie can keep going on without them.
Loading...
06.05.2016 - 12:08
ManiacBlasphemer
Black Knight
Good call. This band became derivative with the last 3 albums. I think that some fresh, new blood and with some fresh, new ideas might be a good call for the band. Never really liked Anna Murphy's singing style. Always sounded forced to me, with some exceptions. I also think a change in style would be appropriate. The gothenborg melodeath style has become so stale, less innovative, it gets boring very quickly. Either they should mellow down and become a folk metal band, or go for a mere extreme sound, something more black metal-esque. Just my opinion.
Loading...
06.05.2016 - 12:36
RaduP
CertifiedHipster
Written by ManiacBlasphemer on 06.05.2016 at 12:08

Good call. This band became derivative with the last 3 albums. I think that some fresh, new blood and with some fresh, new ideas might be a good call for the band. Never really liked Anna Murphy's singing style. Always sounded forced to me, with some exceptions. I also think a change in style would be appropriate. The gothenborg melodeath style has become so stale, less innovative, it gets boring very quickly. Either they should mellow down and become a folk metal band, or go for a mere extreme sound, something more black metal-esque. Just my opinion.

Both folk metal and folk black metal have been done to death just as much as the gothenborg melodeath. Folk doom on the other hand...
----
Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking
One day there will be no heart at all?
Loading...
06.05.2016 - 12:50
Reaper_Redeemer

99% this band is over. Too difficult to replace em, they were so talented.
Loading...
06.05.2016 - 17:47
ManiacBlasphemer
Black Knight
Written by RaduP on 06.05.2016 at 12:36

Written by ManiacBlasphemer on 06.05.2016 at 12:08

Good call. This band became derivative with the last 3 albums. I think that some fresh, new blood and with some fresh, new ideas might be a good call for the band. Never really liked Anna Murphy's singing style. Always sounded forced to me, with some exceptions. I also think a change in style would be appropriate. The gothenborg melodeath style has become so stale, less innovative, it gets boring very quickly. Either they should mellow down and become a folk metal band, or go for a mere extreme sound, something more black metal-esque. Just my opinion.

Both folk metal and folk black metal have been done to death just as much as the gothenborg melodeath. Folk doom on the other hand...


Yes, but Eluveitie hasn't really delved into those genres. Their infusion of folk melodies has always been great. I am among those that like the Evocation album more than most of their metal albums. I just think the sound of melodeath is very outdated and leaves little ground for experiments. Whereas black metal allows you to venture into different territories. I do not care that other bands took such an approach. I want this band to take it and see how it sounds. In other words, they should take some risks. We already have way too many AC/DC or Motorhead-like bands in all metal genres.
Loading...
06.05.2016 - 21:21
Inauditus

Written by Reaper_Redeemer on 06.05.2016 at 12:50

99% this band is over. Too difficult to replace em, they were so talented.

I'm not sure I understand the reasoning behind that comment. I'm sure the fans of female fronted pop metal are unhappy to hear of Anna Murphy's departure, I for one always wished she would stay off the mic and master her instrument instead. And Ivo Henzi and Merlin Sutter, Eluveitie's guitarist and drummer respectively, are in fact vary generic sounding rock musicians. I can understand why Chrigel Glanzmann may want to replace them if he wanted to refine the band's sound on their next album. Although the post did say that Ivo and Anna's departure is only because of Merlin's dismissal. If i were to guess I'd say that it has more to do with a breakdown in personal relationships than musical direction.
Loading...
06.05.2016 - 22:44
Reaper_Redeemer

Written by Inauditus on 06.05.2016 at 21:21

Written by Reaper_Redeemer on 06.05.2016 at 12:50

99% this band is over. Too difficult to replace em, they were so talented.

I'm not sure I understand the reasoning behind that comment. I'm sure the fans of female fronted pop metal are unhappy to hear of Anna Murphy's departure, I for one always wished she would stay off the mic and master her instrument instead. And Ivo Henzi and Merlin Sutter, Eluveitie's guitarist and drummer respectively, are in fact vary generic sounding rock musicians. I can understand why Chrigel Glanzmann may want to replace them if he wanted to refine the band's sound on their next album. Although the post did say that Ivo and Anna's departure is only because of Merlin's dismissal. If i were to guess I'd say that it has more to do with a breakdown in personal relationships than musical direction.


That was not the explanation. For Anna I agree, nowadays what she is doing is not in the correct direction, but remember what she composed back in the "spirit" days. For Ivo and Sutter, have you ever spend time to see (not exactly listen) what are they playing? The melodeath riffing and the modern straight/groovy drumming was always their thing in the band. Check what happens in the songs they participate in composing and what in those who they don't. As for the "rock" musicianship, that's in my opinion out of what describes them. I don't say that they are special technicians or something, but compositions and speed or heaviness are different things. If new guiatarist and drummer want a more "blackened" approach then it is ok, but I am pretty sure we will actually have what you named "rock" musicianship.
Loading...
07.05.2016 - 11:21
The Melting Snow

My vote for drama of the year
Slania's song was the last good piece i remember listening to more than a couple times. seems like this had to happen anytime soon
Loading...
07.05.2016 - 18:14
qlacs
"The Quaker"
So many opinions here

Chrigel will definitely rebuild the band, they have the global reputation to pull some of the more talented under their banner. For sure, it wont be the same - if they ever try to redo what they've built with these 3 who just left it will be just a copycat band of their former.

However I'd like to see them replenish some of the energy in the tank they've been running low since the release of Slania: none of their recent albums can match Spirit or Slania. Anyhow it turns out I wasn't very much up for seeing them live in the past years, hopefully this might change soon

Will see if this is a fortunate event or not!
----
Loading...
07.05.2016 - 22:29
Netzach
Planewalker
Bleh. Was looking forward to Evocation II.
Loading...
09.05.2016 - 18:13
Xyanade

Oh, just another entry of 2016 metalstorm drama of the year.
Loading...
09.05.2016 - 18:22
Vombatus
Potorro
I see no drama here.... they will still play some shows together so seems to be on good terms.


Anyway, if the band doesn't recover, I say good riddance
Loading...
09.05.2016 - 23:27
Ruchesko

"We all developed a lot over the last ten years - not only as a band, but also as individuals. And we partly developed in different directions; different goals, wishes and ideas emerged."

I yearn for the day when a musician is able to write a statement like this without making the fact people don't always stay friends sound like some profound new truth. Half this shit sounds like a 15 year-old girl blogging about a breakup on LiveJournal.
Loading...
10.05.2016 - 16:09
Cynic Metalhead
Paisa Vich Nasha
Finally, good guys have left the band.
Loading...

Hits total: 6776 | This month: 7