ABOUT

Photos: Sethpicturesmusic

Ylisia is a Dutch female fronted symphonic metal band based in Rotterdam. Influences are 80’s bands such as The (old) Gathering, Evanescence, Within Temptation, Stream of Passion and Kate Bush.

“Sometimes you just find an instant connection. That is when magic happens”.
That, my friends, was the beginning of this new adventure ahead of us:

Ylisia

Founder, keyboard player and composer George van Olffen (ex Secret Sounds, Moonflower, Kingfisher Sky), asked longtime friend and guitar player Martijn de Zeeuw to join him in the quest for an additional line-up.

In the summer of 2021, Liesbeth Cordia (ex Annatar, Eve’s Fall) joined as vocalist, along with Eva Levina as drummer and Tim Hoogervorst (ex theName) as bassist, who completed the band with a solid rhythm section.

George and Liesbeth discovered a deep musical connection. Liesbeth found her writing mojo and completed the songs with much needed melodies and lyrics in hyperspeed. Only three days after they first met, some vocals were recorded in George’s homestudio, instantly bringing the songs to life. So the story began.

Ylisia released their first homestudio demos on Soundcloud soon after. They quickly got featured on a ‘NH-pop Demodrop Heavy Edition’ livestream, where they received very positive feedback.

As of 2022, Ylisia has started storming the stage! For their very first gig they attended the W.O.A. Metal Battle in the preliminary round Zuid-Holland, where they ended up in 2nd place! Another highlight was their performance at Rotown, Rotterdam during the Eendrachtfestival. They also had the opportunity to support Imperial Age at Baroeg, during their ‘New World Tour’. Ylisia ended up in 3rd place in the final of Grote Prijs van Dordt. Furthermore, on January 2023 they won the audience award of the European final of Female Metal Event FemME, which allowed them to play at the FemME festival 2023! 

November 18th, 2023, Ylisia finally released their debut album “Underneath”! They played an unforgettable album release show at Nobel, Leiden! A videoclip was released on YouTube for the title-song. The album is out now on all platforms and CD hard copies are available at shows & online! “Underneath” quickly got featured on the “From The IceBerg” radio show Christmas Special, along with a lovely interview with George & Liesbeth. 

With more shows on the calendar (see “Shows”), it is safe to say that you will hear and see much more from Ylisia! So stay tuned!