Interview : Chrigel Glanzmann, ELUVEITIE

Christian “Chrigel” Glanzmann is the leader of Eluveitie, one of the most unique and interesting bands to play what many are calling “folk metal”, due to their inclusion of traditional melodies in metallic arrangements.  However, as you will read, Chrigel does not necessarily identify with these bands, nor does Eluveitie conform to other commonalities in The Metalverse, such as guitar solos. After years of inundation, the true luminaries are starting to shine through, and I am proud to have spoken with one of these stars.

Matt Longo: There has been something of a Folk Metal explosion in the last decade. Can you explain how you came to play this type of music?

Chrigel Glanzmann: To be honest, it’s hard to answer. We don’t think too much about that. The movement has certainly been growing in the last couple of years. We don’t even actually know too much about the whole “pagan” or “folk metal” scene. We basically do our own thing and do what we like and we don’t care too much about the whole scene.

ML: Well yeah, there’s plenty of bands who dress up in skins and have more of an outward appearance. Others use many of the sounds, but via synthesizer. You all have eight people in the band (not including guest musicians) playing authentic traditional instruments like hurdy-gurdy and flute and whistles… that’s what make Eluveitie really stand out. You even surprised many with a mostly-acoustic album last year, Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion. How did that come together?

CG: We had that in mind for quite a while, and kinda challenged us.

ML: Is it more challenging to write acoustic arrangements?

CG: It was more like we were wondering how it would sound, because we had no idea. Of course, it was clear that it should be something really folky and deeply rooted in traditional music. But from the very beginning, we wanted to create something all our own – Eluveitie‘s style of acoustic music.

ML: The band is still helmed by you, correct? As far as I know, you orchestrate most of everything. How much do others contribute to the songwriting?

CG: Well for the acoustic album, everyone was kinda involved. Usually – and this is the case on the new album – it’s pretty much me writing the music. But one of our guitar players, Ivo, actually wrote three songs completely. The way we work, a song is completely written by one person…and if the song is completely arranged and finished, we hand it to the whole band and we start working it out and refining it.

ML: I’ll tell you one thing that surprised me, Chrigel, was the lack of guitar solos on this album. It’s usually considered a staple of most Metal, but one does not miss them!

CG: Yeah, we’ve never been much of a “guitar solo band”. There’s always a space on every album, though. But we are actually not big fans of guitar solos, and I don’t think they are something that our music actually needs.

ML: No, not at all! Hey, if it works, then cool; if not, don’t force them. I want to ask you about the midalbum instrumental, “Isara”. Does this reference the goddess of marriage and childbirth, or is it something else?

CG: (laughs) That’s a bit personal. Isar is a river, but also a girl’s name. It roughly translates into “the wild one”. But it’s also kind of a love song I wrote for my wife. Sometimes just for fun, I used to call her Isara to tease her a bit. So yeah, I wrote the tune for her.

ML: I hear a second Evocation album will be coming out; is that true?

CG: We’ve definitely decided that we will do a metal album for the next release. After that, we’ll start working on Evocation II.

ML: I was recently reading an article about lost literary works. Why is it important for Eluveitie to continue invoking Gaulish?

CG: Well it is a dead language, gone since the Middle Ages. I don’t know if the language and culture will be forgotten someday, we don’t think about that too much. It’s basically something we like to use and that’s why we do it.

ML: At the very end of “Lugdunon” there are some Gaulish lyrics. What do they mean?

CG: It’s actually an ancient Gaulish saying. You can’t exactly translate it, but it means something like “I hold you dear/Don’t leave me”. And the whole song is about the foundation of an old Gaulish city, which still exists as Lyon in today’s France. In the back of Lyon is the legend of how the city was formed; it’s almost fairytale-like. The whole history is unclear, but the settlers were fleeing from aggression of some kind, and that sentence shows how happy they were to have a new home.

ML: That’s a good note to end on. My thanks again to you, Chrigel, for taking the time to speak with us here on Mind Over Metal!

CG: I thank you!

See larger image Everything Remains: As It Never Was (Audio CD) List Price: $15.98 USD New From: $7.57 In Stock Used from: $7.97 In Stock Release date March 9, 2010.