Lyriel are a German Folk metal band who formed in autumn of 2003 in Gummersbach.
The band's lineup remained unchanged since their formation until 2008. Lyriel played as opening act for bands such as Elis, Visions of Atlantis, Regicide, Xandria, Schandmaul, Corvus Corax, Saltatio Mortis,Oomph, Schelmish, Korpiklaani and Mannfred Mann's Earth Band.
In 2005 they toured Germany, Austria and Belgium with Elis and Visions of Atlantis, in February 2006 Lyriel played on the “Romantic Darkness Tour“ together with Regicide and Xandria. Moreover they played on the Celtic Rock Festival at Greifenstein castle in Hesse. A video was released of the show.
In September 2008 drummer Daniel de Beer left the band and was replaced by Marcus Fidorra.
The septet designate their music "Dark Romantic Celtic Rock". Lyriel's repertoire ranges from medievally inspired ballads to hard rock pieces with elements of Classic and Folk music.
It is notable that classical string instruments, unlike as with most other bands of the genre, are played live on stage.
The first studio album Prisonworld was released on 17 January 2005. Especially notable is the song "Lind e-huil" which is sung in Sindarin, the fictional Elvish language created by J. R. R. Tolkien. The album was reviewed as a homage to Blackmore's Night by the Sonic Seducer magazine.
Their second studio album Autumntales was published on 29 September 2006. It continues the band's style and among other songs contains a cover version of Hijo de la Luna. The performance of the string instruments was lauded by the musical press, as well as Jessica Thierjung's singing.The track "My Favourite dream", recorded together with Sabine Dünser of Elis, was also acclaimed as one of the harder songs on the album.
Paranoid Circus was released on 29 January 2010. German voice actor Simon Jäger, known for dubbing actors like Heath Ledger and Matt Damon, appears as a guest artist on the album, reading an introduction and an excerpt from Hermann Hesse's short story The Wolf in the middle of the album. German and Austrian reviews agreed that while offering a high musical standard this album lacks the general speed of the previous releases.
On 15 December 2005 the DVD Live auf Burg Greifenstein (Live on Greifenstein Castle) was released with events of the 3rd Celtic Rock Open Air festival.


Source : wikipedia.org