Leaves' Eyes

Leaves' Eyes formed as a European metal outfit drawing from gothic, progressive, and symphonic traditions, with its founding members drawn from Norway’s Theatre of Tragedy and Germany’s Atrocity. Their elaborately produced tracks explore nature, love, European history, and pagan and Norse mythology, blending classical motifs, European folk elements, and riff-driven power metal into intensely melodic arrangements. The group’s 2004 Napalm debut Lovelorn introduced their signature clean-and-growled vocal dynamic. Although personnel shifts have occurred repeatedly, the core musical identity has remained consistent. Vinland Saga from 2005 earned year-end accolades from critics and positioned the band as festival headliners. Meredead, issued in 2011, likewise topped lists compiled by reviewers in Europe, Australia, and South America. Liv Kristine departed in 2016; Finnish soprano and vocal coach Elina Siirala stepped in and debuted on the full-length Sign of the Dragonhead in 2018. The Last Viking followed in 2020, and Myths of Fate appeared in 2024.

The project originated in the partnership between former Theatre of Tragedy frontwoman Liv Kristine Espenæs and Atrocity guitarist Alexander Krull. After their 2002 marriage and her subsequent exit from Theatre of Tragedy, the couple announced Leaves’ Eyes in 2003. Krull recruited fellow Atrocity members—guitarists Thorsten Bauer and Mathias Röderer, bassist Christian Lukhaup, and drummer Moritz Neuner—to record the 2004 debut Lovelorn. Its 2005 follow-up Vinland Saga drew inspiration from Viking explorer Leif Erikson; the single “Elegy” spent four weeks on the pop charts and served as the theme for the series NUMB3RS. That album crystallized the band’s theatrical symphonic-goth-metal style and established the “Beauty and the Beast” vocal pairing that became their hallmark. During their first four years the group toured extensively, performing hundreds of shows across 34 countries on four continents. Nick Barker replaced Neuner on drums in 2008, and Alla Fedynitch took over bass from Lukhaup, initiating a pattern of frequent rhythm-section changes.

The 2009 live package We Came with the Northern Winds: En Saga i Belgia entered the German charts at number 11 and captured both the band’s history and their sold-out 2007 performance at the Metal Female Voices Festival, complete with a Viking-longship stage prop. Months later the studio album Njord became their first U.S. release; its unexpected cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Scarborough Fair” drew praise, and the subsequent tour marked the band’s first American headline dates. After Mathias Röderer’s departure, former Atrocity guitarist Sander van der Meer joined. Produced by Krull, 2011’s Meredead unified earlier folk strands with Baroque guitars, uilleann pipes, pennywhistles, mandolins, nyckelharpa, and orchestral contributions from the Lingua Mortis Orchestra led by Victor Smolski; the set also included a version of Mike Oldfield’s “To France.” Despite some critical reservations about the stylistic shift, audiences embraced the record. Symphonies of the Night followed in 2013 with new drummer Felix Born, again featuring the Lingua Mortis Orchestra and the Full Moon Choir alongside extensive folk instrumentation; their cover of Depeche Mode’s “One Cares” broadened their audience, and the album reached the U.S. Heatseekers chart.

After signing with AFM the band recorded the ambitious conceptual work King of Kings amid the growing strain in Krull and Kristine’s marriage. Kristine’s lyrics centered on Norway’s first king, Harald Fairhair, while Krull enlisted the London Voices Choir, Simone Simons of Epica on “Edge of Steel,” the White Russian Symphony Orchestra, and traditional folk players. The video for “The Waking Eye” employed the 40-plus-member Værjaborg reenactment group. Though some reviewers found the album overly accessible, it became the group’s strongest commercial seller. In April 2016, following the couple’s separation, Leaves’ Eyes announced an amicable split with Kristine, who maintained she had been dismissed without notice. Elina Siirala replaced her and toured immediately; a tour edition of King of Kings still featuring Kristine was also issued. The subsequent EP Fires in the North received mixed responses. Sign of the Dragonhead, released in 2018 with only Krull and Thorsten Bauer remaining from the original lineup, reduced live classical instrumentation and largely omitted Krull’s growled vocals in order to highlight Siirala’s smoother delivery. Issued as a double album containing an instrumental disc, it reached the Top 40 in Germany and Switzerland.

A pre-release Black Butterfly EP appeared in December 2019, including a version of “Stille Nacht.” The COVID-19 pandemic halted touring in March 2020, prompting the band to compose the conceptual The Last Viking while in quarantine. Written from the perspective of King Harald III on his deathbed, the album introduced guitarist and backing vocalist Micki Richter and featured Visions of Atlantis vocalist Clémentine Delauney on a studio take of “Black Butterfly.” Although fewer additional musicians were employed, multi-tracking expanded the production. Released in October 2020, the record earned uniformly positive notices and drew comparisons to peak works by Nightwish and Epica. After further world tours and festival appearances, Myths of Fate emerged in March 2024, produced, mixed, and mastered by Krull with only a handful of folk guests.