Exit Eden

Lore & Background

Exit Eden was formed in 2017 by Amanda Somerville, Marina La Torraca, Clémentine Delauney, and Anna Brunner. Their debut album 'Rhapsodies in Black' was released in August 2017 and hit No. 15 on the German album charts. Several notable metal musicians and producers, including Simone Simons, Hardy Krech, and Sascha Paeth, contributed to the album. Live musicians have included Evan K on guitars and Mark Moody on keyboards.

Reader's Guide

Exit Eden's significance lies in their fusion of symphonic metal with pop and rock covers, bringing a new audience to the genre. Their debut album 'Rhapsodies in Black' achieved commercial success in Germany, and their second album 'Femmes Fatales' (2024) introduced original songs, expanding their artistic scope. The departure of founding member Amanda Somerville in 2023, who stepped down to focus on her children, marked a transition, but the remaining three members continued without replacing her. The band's collaborations with figures like Marco Hietala and Simone Simons highlight their integration into the wider metal scene. Their legacy includes demonstrating the viability of cover-focused metal projects and evolving into original songwriting.

Did You Know?

• Exit Eden was formed in 2017 by four vocalists from different countries: Amanda Somerville (USA), Marina La Torraca (Brazil), Clémentine Delauney (France), and Anna Brunner (Germany/USA).
• Amanda Somerville remains a member of the band and participated in the second album 'Femmes Fatales' (2024).
• The band's second album 'Femmes Fatales' (2024) was their first to include original songs.

Formation & the All-Vocalist Concept

Exit Eden was established in 2017 as a symphonic metal ensemble built entirely around the voices of four accomplished female vocalists, each already well known in the broader metal world. American singer Amanda Somerville brought experience from Avantasia, Epica, HDK, Kiske/Somerville, Aina, and Trillium. Brazilian vocalist Marina La Torraca had worked with Battle Beast and previously with Phantom Elite. French singer Clémentine Delauney was recognized for her work with Visions of Atlantis, Temperance, and Serenity. German-American Anna Brunner had been part of League of Distortion. The group's central creative premise was to rework well-known pop and rock songs into symphonic metal arrangements, a concept that set them apart from typical metal acts. While their debut focused exclusively on covers, the band later expanded their artistic scope by writing original material, a shift that began with their second album. This all-vocalist lineup, with no dedicated guitarist or keyboardist as a permanent member, gave the project a distinctly vocal-driven identity from the very start.

Debut Launch & Collaborative Network

The band's debut album, Rhapsodies in Black, launched in July 2017 through a series of metal-cover music videos uploaded to YouTube. The initial clips attracted thousands of views within just a few days of posting, and the album itself climbed to number fifteen on the German album charts—a notable achievement for a cover-based project. Behind the scenes, the recording drew on an impressive web of collaborators from across the metal scene. Simone Simons of Epica contributed, alongside producers and engineers Hardy Krech, Mark Nissen, and Sascha Paeth, who had worked with Avantasia, Edguy, and Kamelot. Johannes Braun and Jim Müller of Kissin' Dynamite were also involved, as was Evan K, known from Enemy Inside and Mystic Prophecy. For live performances, Evan K handled guitars while Mark Moody played keyboards. The album was released under the Starwatch Entertainment and Napalm Records banners, and the project quickly established itself as a high-production-value endeavor within the symphonic metal space.

Transition & a New Creative Chapter

In late October 2023, the band underwent a significant personnel change when Amanda Somerville announced her departure. In a public statement dated October 20, she explained that she would be stepping down to devote more time to her three children, while also teasing new material for an upcoming release. The remaining three vocalists—Anna Brunner, Clémentine Delauney, and Marina La Torraca—confirmed they would carry the project forward without seeking a replacement for Somerville. Just four days after her announcement, the group dropped the single "Run!", which featured Finnish metal vocalist Marco Hietala on vocals, signaling both continuity and a fresh creative direction. The following year, on January 12, 2024, the band released Femmes Fatales, their second studio album. This record marked a pivotal evolution in the group's identity: for the first time, it contained songs the band had written themselves, moving beyond the cover-only formula that had defined their debut. The album was issued through Napalm Records and included tracks like "Femme Fatale" and a rendition of Mylène Farmer's "Désenchantée."

Musical Range & Catalog Breadth

One of the most striking aspects of Exit Eden's output is the sheer breadth of source material they have reimagined in a symphonic metal context. Their 2017 debut, Rhapsodies in Black, featured covers spanning multiple genres and decades: Rihanna's "Unfaithful," Shontelle's "Impossible," the Backstreet Boys' "Incomplete," Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi," Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart," and Depeche Mode's "A Question of Time." Each of these was accompanied by a music video produced under the Starwatch Entertainment and Napalm Records labels. The 2023 single "Separate Ways" brought a Journey classic into the mix, while 2024's "Désenchantée" showcased the group's ability to tackle French-language material from Mylène Farmer. Alongside these covers, the band's 2024 album introduced their own compositions, broadening their catalog beyond reinterpretation. With two studio albums to their name and a growing list of music videos, Exit Eden has built a catalog that bridges pop, rock, and symphonic metal in a way few all-female vocal ensembles have attempted.