Xandria

Finally, the negotiations for the contract with Drakkar Records begin in the summer of 2002, which was very positive and consequently, they began the recording of their first real album. In 2003, after seeing their success by publishing their demos on German portals, they decide to release their first album that same year (Kill the Sun).

Years before its founding, Marco had discovered bands like Paradise Lost, Anathema, The Gathering, Lake of Tears, Tiamat, etc. These groups produced the same sound that he wanted to create. He said that in 1994, Tiamat's Wildhoney album was the one that gave him the idea to found Xandria.

All the songs that were in the demo plus another five that were written in the break, were recorded by producer Dirk Riegner, also known as the keyboardist of Secret Discovery and recently the producer of Milú. After a short pre-production period at Dirk Riegner's Studio, which was located right next to the Zeche Bochum area, the band entered the main studio covered in snow, close to the new year of 2003. Within a week, the instruments were recorded, for the vocal parts, the band returned to Bochum to the producer's small studio.

Afterwards the album was mixed at Horus Sound Studios (also Guano Apes etc.) in Hannover in the small studio of mixing engineer Modo Bierkamp. Three months later, the result; supplied with a cover job by Kai Hoffmann (also Secret Discovery) hit stores on May 5, 2003, and immediately met with such approval that it entered the German chards at number 98, an achievement only It hit them, but it was quite extraordinary for a German band whose sound was mainly and still influenced by Gothic Metal.

The press was also very enchanted with the band, and the album without exception won good reviews, in the reviews of well-known and unknown magazines on the scene.

The new recording happened in two small sessions, and the single was released on October 11, 2004, and reached the audience charts for two weeks. The ballad "Eversleeping" from the album Ravenheart was very popular with fans, and that was the idea of ​​the band and the label to release this song as a single in the fall just before the tour that would follow the album. To infuse more of the band's presence into the song for the video and above all, to play it live, they would once again enter producer José Álvarez-Brill's studio in Belgium to record a slightly modified version.

Discreet drums and guitars were added to the pure piano and string sounds of the album version. On top of that, three additional songs were recorded to offer fans something for the money when purchasing their single. And so, with five tracks on it, it actually became an E.P. The songs, "Drown in me": exclusively written for the single, and represents the modern side of the band. "Pure" is a lovely ballad that Lisa wrote a long time ago, which, in the end, was not included on the album. And "So Sweet" is a new recording of an old song from the 1997 demo.

With Ravenheart, Xandria quickly became known within the Goth scene for the title song, "Ravenheart" and the video with which they touched the hearts of many new listeners. Recorded and mixed in the Belgian studio of producer José Álvarez-Brill (Wolfsheim, among others), in the months of December 2003 to February 2004. An album with many facets came into existence: together with the producer the band tried many new things like impressive orchestral arrangements, modern guitar riffs and rhythm samples. Marco comments:

"We didn't want to stand still, after the tour after the debut-album, I had a lot of ideas and wanted to try a lot of things. The debut album was like a starting point on the basis of which, new territories can be opened and beyond, musical dreams. can be done today. So not only was the new sound that was possible to make with the experience gained and the help of the new producer something attractive and new, but in connection with the enthusiasm for soundtrack elements, such as "Some like it cold", the which should sound like the title of a James Bond song. Also the new work on this album are songs I wrote together with Lisa rather than for the debut ones. There's also a song written by the bass player on the album – her farewell to him – so to speak, since he left the band right after the recording."

On May 24, 2004, a year after Kill the sun, Ravenheart was released and also very good reviews came again, and even the album entered the charts even higher than the debut: number 36, and all things considered it stayed in the top 100 for seven weeks. Success that greatly impressed the band, being an album with many different ideas.

In 2005 a new record work by Xandria called India is published. After a concert tour (longer than the previous two), they recorded a fourth album, Salomé: The Seventh Veil. It is a tribute to Salomé, a kind of Arab dance/dance/rite. The album compiles elements from its predecessors: we can notice oriental atmospheric bases that we can hear in India ("Sisters of the Light"), along with aggressive songs like those of Ravenheart (eg "Firestorm") and something from 'Kill the Sun', as we noted on the track "Vampire".

In this work, the band incorporates male voices in certain songs, such as "Emotional Man", "Only for the Stars in Your Eyes" and "Firestorm"; something that is not usual to do to let Lisa fill the songs with her beautiful voice. We find two beautiful slow songs: "Salomé" and "The Wind and the Ocean", where the vocalist delights us with melodies that only she can create.

The album also includes rock songs with melodic overtones, which can even be said to rip very sensual notes, characteristic of Xandria, such as "Emotional Man", "Sleeping Dogs Lie" and catchy songs with a good rhythmic base such as "Vampire" and "Beware". This latest album catapulted Xandria into a series of festivals and individual concerts that gave them a wide range of fans and also, being something 'different but similar' to what they had been doing, they kept their style but caught the attention of a few more. The singles taken from this album were "Save my Life" and "Sisters of the Light", the first of these being the only one for which a video was made.

On Wednesday April 30, 2008, Lisa Middelhauve (vocals) left the band for personal reasons, therefore, Xandria is looking for a new singer. While they continue the search, on June 6 they release a compilation called Now & Forever-Best Of Xandria that includes their best-known songs as well as two bonus tracks and an unreleased song.

This latest album consists of a compilation of their best songs remastered and slightly digitally arranged, improving sound quality and correcting what has to do with vocal defects and couplings not taken into account in the original albums. They are not re-recorded songs but a certain edition is noticeable, as well as the effect of passing from one track to the other.

This disc is presented twice, with a DVD containing a photo gallery, backstage, a complete Xandria concert at SummerBreeze 2007 (very valuable material) and interviews. The CD consists of the best 17 songs of the band, together with a bonustrack of the single "Eversleeping" "Drown in Me", "Lullaby" a B-Side of "India" that was only included in a limited edition of the disc. and a theme not included in Salomé, "One Word".

It is a real treasure for fans and collectors, since the band has not promoted their songs other than through albums and it is not easy to get concert audio. The album closes with the ballad "Lullaby", something not done before by Xandria, their albums usually end with something more rock to give it the final touch. In this case the song is very sweet and Lisa's voice softens even the most ferocious beast that can exist. Many fans have taken this song and this way of closing the album, as a farewell to Lisa, because of the content of the lyrics and her voice, which is the last thing heard.

With Lisa's departure, Xandria looked for a new vocalist. The name of the vocalist is Kertin Bischof, a friend of Lisa Middelhauve, and with an incredible Light Soprano register, which made it easier for her to interpret the previous songs of the band.

In August 2009 Xandria began a tour of South America to introduce her new singer; the tour was successfully received among the fans and on that tour they presented songs from their next album which had a release date for 2010.

The name of the album was not yet known, but it is known that there are many songs ready.

On February 18, 2010, the official website of Xandria announced the departure of vocalist Kerstin Bischof, who announced that she was leaving the band for reasons of a personal nature and to pursue her own musical career.

Due to this, Xandria announced that her ex-vocalist Lisa Middelhauve will replace Kerstin in the Tour of Mexico and some presentations in Athens, at the moment Xandria was in search of a new vocalist.

New Voice (2010-2011)

On December 20, Xandria announced through their website that they already had a voice again, it was Manuela Kraller, a German spinto lyrical soprano, and a member of the band Haggard, and now the entire band is already recording what will be their new studio album, with future publication for 2012.

On November 28, 2011, Xandria announces the name of their new album, Neverworld`s End along with the cover and release date on February 24, 2012. The band comments about the album could indicate it like this,

it is not a concept album and it does not have anything to do with Peter Pan either; then they published the tracklist and announced that the first version of the album would be a digipack containing a bonus track.

On this album the band changes its sound, definitely discarding the last traces of Gothic metal influence to become pure symphonic. The album caused a great impact worldwide; being described by many as the best Symphonic metal album of 2012 and even baptized by fans as "the rebirth of old Nightwish".

At the beginning of 2013 bassist Nils Middelhauve decides to leave the band. After an intensive search, Steven Wussow is added to the lineup on February 4th, once again completing the quintet and giving them the opportunity to continue the tour.

Once stable, rumors fly during some interviews that they would be working on a new album, the second with Manuela Kraller and the first with the new lineup, maintaining the direction taken in the successful predecessor album.

On October 25 it is officially reported that Manuela Kraller is leaving the band to pursue her own musical projects, so she immediately presents herself with the new formation and official photography of the band to EX Libris, Dianne van Giersbergen, as the new vocalist of the group.

In 2017 they released the album Theater Of Dimensions, featuring "We Are Murderers", "Call of Destiny" and "Queen of Hearts Reborn" as singles.

On September 13, 2017 Dianne van Giersbergen announced the departure of the band due to health and stability problems of the band. Her temporary replacement was Aeva Maurelle, after which she continued until 2019. Steven Wussow left the band in October 2019 to join Orden Ogan.

After several years of remaining silent, the band through its official Facebook page announced the release of a new single titled "Reborn", which was released on May 25, 2022, presenting the new lineup of the band.

by Dimitrios Gatsios (drums), Tim Schwarz (bass), Rob Klawonn (guitar) and new vocalist Ambre Vourvahis and at the same time,

confirming the departure of bassist Steven Wussow and guitarist Philip Restemeier, Marco Heubaum being the only original member of the band within the current formation.

On November 3, 2022, the band announced that the album The Wonders Still Awaiting, the group's eighth studio album, and first with the new lineup, was released on February 3, 2023.

Kill the Sun (2003)

Ravenheart  (2004)

India  (2005)

Salomé – The Seventh Veil (2007)

Neverworld's End (2012)

Sacrificium   (2014)

Fire & Ashes (2015) ep

Theater of Dimensions (2017)

The Wonders Still Awaiting (2023)

Marco Heubaum – rhythm guitar (1994–present), keyboards (1997–present), vocals (1994–2001)

Ambre Vourvahis – vocals (2022–present)

Rob Klawonn – lead guitar (2022–present)

Tim Schwarz – bass (2022–present)

Dimitrios Gatsios – drums (2022–present)

 

Former live members

Fabio D'Amore – bass (live) (2012–2014)

Hendrik Thiesbrummel – drums (live) (2016)

Aeva Maurelle – vocals (live) (2017–2019)

Niki Weltz – drums (1994–1997)

Manuel Vinke – lead guitar (1996–1997)

Andreas Litschel – keyboards (1996–1997)

Holger Vester – bass (1996–1997)

Nicole Tobien – vocals (1997)

Jens Becker – lead guitar (1999–2000)

Andreas Maske – lead guitar (2000–2001)

Roland Krueger – bass (1999–2004)

Kerstin Bischof – vocals (2009–2010)

Lisa Middelhauve – vocals, piano (2000–2008, 2010)

Nils Middelhauve – bass (2004–2012)

Manuela Kraller – vocals (2010–2013)

Dianne van Giersbergen – vocals (2013–2017)

Steven Wussow – bass (2013–2019)

Gerit Lamm – drums (2000–2022)

Philip Restemeier – lead guitar (2002–2022)