Valkyre is a Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

–French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 female-fronted symphonic-gothic metal

Symphonic metal

Symphonic metal is a term used to describe heavy metal music that has symphonic elements; that is, elements that are either borrowed from classical music or, as with progressive rock music, create a style reminiscent of it, e.g...

 band founded by guitarist Kris Scheerlinck subsequent to his departure from Sengir.

History

Valkyre was formed at the end of 2004 and the beginning of 2005 by Kris Scheerlinck after leaving his former band Sengir. The band consists of different well-trained musicians coming from different styles of music but with the same common interest: melodic atmospheric metal.

Only a few months after the first gigs the band decided in the autumn of 2005 to record a demo at the Excess studio in the Netherlands with Hans Pieters known for his work with After Forever

After Forever

After Forever was a Dutch symphonic metal band with strong progressive metal influences. The band relied on the use of both soprano vocals and death grunts. In February 2009, it was announced that After Forever had disbanded.-Biography:...

, Epica

Epica (band)

Epica is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded by guitarist and vocalist Mark Jansen subsequent to his departure from After Forever. They are known for their symphonic sound and the use of female vocals and male growls performed by Simone Simons and Mark Jansen, respectively. All six members write...

 and Gorefest

Gorefest

Gorefest was a Dutch band from the Zeeland region of the Netherlands which was founded in 1988 as a death metal outfit by De Koeyer, Harthoorn, van Schaik and Hoogendoorn.-History:...

. This demo is for sale since the spring of 2006 and resulted in excellent sales worldwide and successful concerts through Benelux, France and Italy.

In 2007 the band hired Cid Jimenez as the new violin player to replace Joris Derder, who left because of a shortage of time due to his professional musical career. He still supports the band today with the Ghent University

Ghent University

Ghent University is a Dutch-speaking public university located in Ghent, Belgium. It is one of the larger Flemish universities, consisting of 32,000 students and 7,100 staff members. The current rector is Paul Van Cauwenberge.It was established in 1817 by King William I of the Netherlands...

 Choir.

In September 2007 the band recorded its second demo Consolamentum, at the Excess studio. The demo was first released at the Metal Female Voices Fest

Metal Female Voices Fest

Metal Female Voices Fest is a heavy metal music festival held annually in Belgium since 2003. It is organized by the Metal Organisation agency. The seventh edition took place at Oktoberhallen in Wieze in the municipality of Lebbeke on October 17 and October 18, 2009.-October 22:*Doro* Leaves' Eyes*...

 in October 2007 and was immediately sold out. In November 2007 lead singer Mieke Diependael decided she wanted to give another direction to her life. Mieke's last concert was the Darkfest in Italie in feb08.

In March 2008 Valkyre welcomed Kristell Lowagie

Kristell Lowagie

Kristell Lowagie is a Belgian pop music singer and songwriter.-Biography:Lowagie was born at Brussels. She led the gothic/symphonic metal bands Valkyre and Skeptical Minds and is now working on different musical projects: her solo project Joliet, an electro-pop music; The Road To Consciousness...

 (ex-Skeptical Minds) as new lead singer, but she left the band in January 2009.

Style

Valkyre's style can be described as a mixture of gothic metal,classical music, folk music and melodic metal.

Line-up

• Carolien Groenendaels (vocals)
• Kris Scheerlinck (guitar)
• Gert de Groot (guitar)
• Fred Stiens (bass)
• Gaelle Pruvost (keyboards/backing vocals)
• Matijs Vandenberghe (drums)
• Cid Jimenez Guisado: (violin)

Session members

• Marcel van Montfort: (arrangements/choir/guest vocals)
• Joris Derder: (arrangements/choir/guest vocals/violin)
• Johan de Clus: (hurdy gurdy/bag pipes/tin whistle)