Xandria

Xandria is a German symphonic metal band that formed in Bielefeld, Germany, in 1994. According to the band, Xandria unifies modern rock with mystic soundscapes into a soundtrack of a different, really characteristic world. In Xandria's world, everyone is allowed to be as vulnerable as strong, to show feelings and to live all beautiful dreams which seem forbidden in the cold reality. "We want to give our audience courage - on their way back to everyday-life - to manage to also there stand for their feelings and to be strong enough to get through all pains and obstacles." 1994 - 1997 The band was formed by Marco Heubaum (guitars, keyboards) and Niki Weltz (drums), drawing inspiration from Bands like Tiamat and Paradise Lost. Due to musical dissension between the founders, they parted ways in 1997. 1999 - 2009 In 1999 Marco Heubaum started working on new material together with Lisa Middelhauve (vocals; at that time Schaphaus). A year later they presented five demo songs on the internet, and after great success on different MP3 portals, they released their first album Kill the Sun in 2003, which reached #98 on the German music charts. The sophomore Ravenheart (2004), stayed on the charts for 7 weeks, reaching #36. In 2005 they released their third album India, which is more oriented to the symphonic metal. Their fourth album Salomé - The Seventh Veil, released in 2007, continued this trend. 2009 As of April 30th, 2008 Lisa left the band due to personal reasons and the band searched for a new singer. On February 8th, 2009 an announcement on their website introduced the new singer, 28-year old Kerstin Bischof.