ABOUT

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 soon after, and started storming the stage in 2022! 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 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!

In February 2024, Ylisia won the jury award of the Kabaal Regionaal Band Battle!  The prize was playing a memorable show at the Kabaal am Gemaal stage during Bevrijdingfestival Wageningen (5 May festival)! Later this year, they played a very well-received show at sold-out festival Nieuwveen Live!

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!