Eluveitie (/ɛlˈveɪti/ el-VAY-tee; German: [ɛlˈfaɪ̯tiː])[1] is a Swiss folk metal band from Winterthur, Zürich, founded in 2002 by Chrigel Glanzmann.

[3][4] The band's style incorporates characteristics of melodic death metal combined with the melodies of traditional Celtic music.

They use traditional European instruments, including the hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes, amidst guitars and both clean and harsh vocals.

[6] After failing numerous attempts to form an actual band, Christian "Chrigel" Glanzmann created Eluveitie in the winter of 2002 as a studio project featuring various musicians on each track.

Shortly afterwards, the group performed its first shows, one including the Swiss metal festival Elements of Rock, and Eluveitie signed a contract with the Dutch record label Fear Dark, which released a re-recorded Vên in 2004.

Other live performances were played, such as on some events of "Fear Dark Festivals", and even as support for the established international pagan–folk metal acts such as Korpiklaani and Cruachan.

Sarah Wauquiez was replaced by Anna Murphy to play hurdy-gurdy and Linda Suter was removed, trimming the band down to eight members.

[1][11] On 4 June 2008, brothers Rafi and Sevan Kirder (bassist and bagpipe player, respectively) announced on their MySpace pages that they would leave Eluveitie following their concert at the Metal Camp Open Air in Slovenia on 8 July 2008.

During their tour in South America, Anna Murphy, the hurdy-gurdy player and clean vocalist, was reported to be sick on 26 January 2013, and had to take a flight to Switzerland on short notice.

Original artwork created by Chrigel Glanzmann was released as well, along with the theme of the album, which revolves mainly around Gaulish mythology.

[23] In early June, the band announced on their Facebook that they will be releasing their lead single for Origins, titled "King", on 13, the same month.

Israeli violinist Shir-Ran Yinon joined the group on tour as her replacement, having been selected through an open audition to which she had submitted a video.

[28] The three stated that they would start producing new songs together while still making touring commitments with Eluveitie until their last concerts scheduled in June.

[28] In July 2016, the departure of Shir-Ran Yinon was announced, claiming that her contract had expired, and Nicole Ansperger returning to the band.

On 14 October 2017, the band announced via social media that they were working on a new album, and were to due to start recording after their Maximum Evocation tour.

The band also revealed that they had recorded a single in advance of the tour, at Tommy Vetterli's New Sound Studio, entitled "Rebirth".

Eluveitie uses traditional folk instruments in their music, such as fiddles, tin whistles and flutes, bagpipes and hurdy-gurdies.