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.
1994 - 1997
A predecessor of the band was formed by Marco Heubaum (guitars, keyboards), drawing inspiration from Bands like Tiamat and Paradise Lost. This band was already named Xandria, but due to musical dissension between the members, they parted ways in 1997.
1999 - 2009
In 1999 Marco Heubaum started Xandria again with new musicians. A demo was recorded in 2000, and they presented the five songs on the internet. 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, was a step away from the bombastic sound of the two predecessors and at least in Germany not such a big success as "Ravenheart" or "India".
2009
As of April 30th, 2008 the band announced that Lisa left the band due to personal reasons and that the band is searching for a new singer. On February 8th, 2009 an announcement on their website introduced the new singer, 28-year old Kerstin Bischof, but on February 18th 2010 the band announced that Kerstin will no longer be the bands vocalist because she decided to pursue her career outside the music business.
2010
In December 2010 it was announced on Xandrias web site that Manuela Kraller will be the new singer for the band.
The new album "Neverworld´s End" was released on February 24th 2012 (Europe) / March 6th 2012 (USA).
2013 - present
On the 25th of October 2013 the band announced Manuela's departure, who regrettably decided to continue a different musical path. Dutch singer Dianne van Giersbergen (also known from Ex Libris) was announced to become the new lead singer. In January 2014 the band announced the title for their upcoming album with Dianne called 'Sacrificium', which is set to be released on May the 2nd, 2014.