Our Story

We are storytellers.

Cellar Darling are a heavy progressive folk rock band from Lucerne, Switzerland, established in the summer of 2016 after Anna Murphy (vocals, hurdy-gurdy, multi instrumentalist), Merlin Sutter (drums) and Ivo Henzi (guitars and bass) left Swiss folk metallers Eluveitie. Having played together in their previous band for over a decade, the three musicians set out to embark on a new, different path.

‘This Is The Sound’ (2017 - 2018)

What quickly developed was a unique and fresh combination of grand and heavy riffs, powerful drumming, and Anna’s unique voice along with her multi-instrumental skills including piano, classical flute, and the hurdy-gurdy, confidently fusing progressive metal and rock with elaborate lyrical tales.

In September 2016, following a summer of intense songwriting sessions, Cellar Darling self-released their first single “Challenge” along with the bonus track “Fire, Wind & Earth”, to overwhelmingly positive reactions from around the world. Signing to Nuclear Blast Records in January 2017, they followed up with three single releases (“Black Moon”, “Avalanche”, and “The Hermit”). Cellar Darling's debut album This Is The Sound was released on June 30th 2017 and entered the album charts in Switzerland, Germany, and the U.K. In support of This Is The Sound, Cellar Darling toured across Europe, Latin America, North America, and Asia, with concerts in more than 20 countries.

‘The Spell’ (2019 - 2020)

Cellar Darling's sophomore album The Spell was released on 22 March 2019, cementing the band firmly in the progressive music world. This ambitious release weaves a dark fairytale for the modern era, told through heavy yet intricate, progressive metal, enchanting visual art and utterly immersive storytelling. With The Spell, the trio decided to take their musical ideas and creativity a step further, and to create a concept album. It tells the tale of a girl who is birthed into a world full of pain, damaged and debilitated by the human beings that inhabit it. We follow her as she meets Death and falls in love with him, trying desperately to join him – concluding with an ambiguous ending that leaves the listener wondering.

On The Spell Cellar Darling have expanded their signature progressive sound. Juxtaposing darkness and light, the album soars with melody, pummels with heavy passages and is peppered throughout with progressive flourishes, folky interludes and classical elements, as well as their use of hurdy gurdy and flute.

But the ambition of The Spell doesn’t stop with the music and lyrics: Cellar Darling have created an audiobook that’s narrated by Anna to help complement the album’s story (released as part of the limited edition digibook), and they enlisted Romanian artist Costin Chioreanu to create vivid illustrations and animated videos for each of the 13 songs. In September 2019 Cellar Darling won a Progressive Music Award for Best Video with “Insomnia”.

The first part of a world tour for The Spell again saw the trio perform all over the world, including headline tours in the U.K., Latin America, and Europe in 2019.

‘DANCE’ (2020 - 2021)

In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted Cellar Darling’s ongoing tour, resulting in the cancellation of more than 80 shows in Europe and North America. During April and May, the band created a series of online Lockdown Content to share with fans locked down around the world, culminating in the live stream event Live at Soundfarm Studio. Following a second live stream concert as part of Tohuwabohu Festival, Cellar Darling then retreated for the remainder of the year in order to write and record a new single. “DANCE” was released on 8 January 2021, followed by a music video on 23 March.

Returning to the stage for just two shows in the fall of 2021, Cellar Darling are currently working on new music and are set to play a select few shows in 2022.