Xandria - Dianne Van Giersbergen Announces Departure From The Band
It looks as though there's more than meets the eye regarding Xandria's yesterday's announcement of their U.S. tour cancellation and stand-in singer for European shows. Shortly after the band released that statement, singer Dianne Van Giersbergen issued a statement of her own announcing her departure from the symphonic group saying that if she stayed it would damage her health problems even more. So, it seems like Xandria will need to search for a new vocalist.
Dianne's official statement: "The moment I promised you and me that would never come is here: I am leaving Xandria. And the reason is simple: staying in the band would cause further damage to the health problems the band has caused me. For nearly 2 years now I've been trying to put band and management issues on the table, with the sole reason to keep this band healthy, together and ready for the future. Today I am sad to say that my attempts failed and have been ignored, that my cries for help have been met with financial threats and emotional extortion and that my persistence to keep on going, ignoring all the warning signs, has left me with uncontrollable stress symptoms (confirmed by doctors). I am a fighter, but I've come to see that this is one I cannot win. I don't want to leave, I love the music that I got to write for you - which is 100% me - but I can't live, can't perform, can simply not exist in an environment that harms me. This environment does not care for me nor for the fans (even proposed me to playback in order to do more shows in a row) and somehow miraculously never generated any financial outcome and therefore no stability for any of its band members.
"Yesterday evening the last hope I had of ever reconciling with the boys was shattered when they made a statement announcing that 'I' could not perform with the band anymore, forgetting to mention that I am in this unhealthy position because of Xandria & management. Not surprisingly they also already have a replacement for me and kicked me out of every Xandria social media page. With that they've send me one last clear message: they are not interested in fixing the situation nor are they willing to support me if that means (partly) stepping away from the business perspective (quote: 'we are not friends') which leads me to conclude what I know now: it is time for me to close this chapter and wish them the best of luck in continuing the band I loved so much. Now, I don't know where we will meet again, but I didn't follow my passion, study all those hours and travel all those roads to simply give up. I'm sad to close this chapter, but I'm sure there will be another one to write. In the meantime I will be focusing on what does make me happy and I will be posting my daily business and updates on my Precious Metal Jewelry and Ex Libris stuff as usual. I very much hope to see you online so we can stay in touch and who knows, maybe one day in an audience again. Thank you all for understanding, for your love and support! I am forever grateful."
Dianne's official statement: "The moment I promised you and me that would never come is here: I am leaving Xandria. And the reason is simple: staying in the band would cause further damage to the health problems the band has caused me. For nearly 2 years now I've been trying to put band and management issues on the table, with the sole reason to keep this band healthy, together and ready for the future. Today I am sad to say that my attempts failed and have been ignored, that my cries for help have been met with financial threats and emotional extortion and that my persistence to keep on going, ignoring all the warning signs, has left me with uncontrollable stress symptoms (confirmed by doctors). I am a fighter, but I've come to see that this is one I cannot win. I don't want to leave, I love the music that I got to write for you - which is 100% me - but I can't live, can't perform, can simply not exist in an environment that harms me. This environment does not care for me nor for the fans (even proposed me to playback in order to do more shows in a row) and somehow miraculously never generated any financial outcome and therefore no stability for any of its band members.
"Yesterday evening the last hope I had of ever reconciling with the boys was shattered when they made a statement announcing that 'I' could not perform with the band anymore, forgetting to mention that I am in this unhealthy position because of Xandria & management. Not surprisingly they also already have a replacement for me and kicked me out of every Xandria social media page. With that they've send me one last clear message: they are not interested in fixing the situation nor are they willing to support me if that means (partly) stepping away from the business perspective (quote: 'we are not friends') which leads me to conclude what I know now: it is time for me to close this chapter and wish them the best of luck in continuing the band I loved so much. Now, I don't know where we will meet again, but I didn't follow my passion, study all those hours and travel all those roads to simply give up. I'm sad to close this chapter, but I'm sure there will be another one to write. In the meantime I will be focusing on what does make me happy and I will be posting my daily business and updates on my Precious Metal Jewelry and Ex Libris stuff as usual. I very much hope to see you online so we can stay in touch and who knows, maybe one day in an audience again. Thank you all for understanding, for your love and support! I am forever grateful."
Original photo by Tim Tronckoe
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Comments: 13
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| BloodTears ANA-thema Elite Posts: 11835  |
Symphonic metal bands are cursed. Something always happens to spoil the fun. I'm looking at you Leaves' Eyes... Xandria will survive though, they've already had God knows how many singers. The quality of their albums has been decaying, so that might have something to do with that.
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| Dracoil Posts: 146  |
Nightwish, Sirenia, Leaves' Eyes, Xandria,... Symphonic metal bands are cursed [2] :'(
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| TheMAGAmvm Soycrusher Posts: 1086  |
Written by BloodTears on 14.09.2017 at 13:07 They are indeed cursed, but the curse is called greed. In the case of Leaves' Eyes, it just goes to show that having couples within a band can sometimes ruin the band itself.
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| BloodTears ANA-thema Elite Posts: 11835 |
Written by TheMAGAmvm on 14.09.2017 at 14:49 You might be right. The only that survived so far that I can remember is Epica, but maybe they would replace Simone as well. Nightwish replaced Tarja after all. Regarding Leaves though, they should be professionals above all. It didn't seem like the case.
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| TheMAGAmvm Soycrusher Posts: 1086 |
Written by BloodTears on 14.09.2017 at 21:10 Professionalism pales when it comes to $. Lets face it, a lot of these symphonic metal bands are in for the cash mostly. Creatively they've been dry for years or on a steady downfall. Commercially speaking symphonic metal has also been waning. I could add that Within Temptation and Edenbridge survived longer than Epica. Although in the case of Within Temptation, Sharon is pretty much the soul of WT and she is married with the founder, while for Edenbridge, the guitarist and vocalist have been together for a remarkable amount of time, both in the band and as a married couple.
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| TheMAGAmvm Soycrusher Posts: 1086 |
Written by BloodTears on 14.09.2017 at 21:10 Manuela also released a statement confirming that the fault is with the band management and not necessarily with the band members themselves. Although I think she is too diplomatic, she points out that the management and the demands the industry makes, regardless of possible health issues was the reason for her departure too. If not the band is hungry for cash, then the management surely is.
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| The Melting Snow Posts: 674  |
To sum up, where there's a woman, there's trouble.
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| BloodTears ANA-thema Elite Posts: 11835 |
Written by The Melting Snow on 15.09.2017 at 10:12 Sure, because all-male bands never have these kind of problem, no-one ever leaves and there are no conflicts... Ahahah 
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| BloodTears ANA-thema Elite Posts: 11835 |
Written by TheMAGAmvm on 14.09.2017 at 21:31 Yes, I forgot about WT. That is a good example actually. I don't remember when Manuela left exactly, but band management also causes so many conflicts between bands. I remember Amorphis and Sólstafir, as the latest examples. Sometimes we forget it's a business. It's such a shame though. All these things are bound to influence writing and people eventually move on to other things.
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| Ruchesko Posts: 435  |
Wish I could say I was disappointed, but never really took to the, what, 5th best Dutch female symphonic metal singer? Always preferred Lisa. Written by The Melting Snow on 15.09.2017 at 10:12 Dancing on dangerous ground there, sweetheart.
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| Polaria Posts: 248  |
Written by The Melting Snow on 15.09.2017 at 10:12 Plenty of trouble in 100% male bands as well...
---- Life is all the pain we endeavour.
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| The Melting Snow Posts: 674 |
Lol, so easy to trigger people :p
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| Xyanade Posts: 72 |
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