ELUVEITIE's Anna Murphy (hurdygurdy, vocals, flute) has been forced to leave the band's current South American "Helvetios" tour.

Says the group in a statement: "We're very sorry to inform you that Anna won't be able to play the upcoming Brazilian shows with us.

"We started our South American tour yesterday in Buenos Aires, Argentina, when Anna got seriously ill on short notice. She wasn't able to play the show yesterday and she was forced to fly back to Switzerland this morning. Of course, we will still play — none of the upcoming shows will be cancelled! We'll do our very best to still rock the shit out of you, promised!

"Thank you all very much for your understanding. We're looking forward to see you all soon!"

ELUVEITIE performed its latest concept album, "Helvetios", in its entirety during the band's recent North American co-headlining tour with Finnish epic metallers WINTERSUN. The trek commemorated ELUVEITIE's 10th anniversary as well as served as WINTERSUN's introduction to North American shores. This momentous event also included the German pagan metal band VARG.

"Helvetios" sold 4,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 143 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD landed at position No. 3 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

"Helvetios" was released in Europe on February 10, 2012 via Nuclear Blast RecordsNew Sound Studio in Pfäffikon, a municipality in the canton of Zurich in Switzerland, with producer Tommy Vetterli (a.k.a. Tommy T. Baron; CORONER/ex-KREATOR guitarist). According to the band, Vetterli "record[ed] drums, guitars and vocals and also produc[ed] and mix[ed] the record. Most folk instruments and also vocals [were] recorded by Anna Murphy and Marco Jencarelli at the Soundfarm studios in Lucerne."

Performance: