Merel Bechtold

Merel Bechtold (born February 27, 1992) is a guitarist from the Netherlands. She was born in Blaricum. In 2007, at the age of fifteen, she started playing the guitar. Six months later, she founded the band Purest of Pain, in which she played lead guitar until they disbanded in 2018. In 2013 she released the single "Momentum" and in 2014 she performed at the major metal festival Wacken Open Air.

Musical activities

At the end of 2012, Bechtold performed with Delain for the first time. In 2013, she stood in for Timo Somers, Delain's main guitarist, for the first time. At the same time, she gave several concerts with Purest of Pain. In October 2014, she was contacted by Isaac Delahaye (Epica, formerly MaYaN), who had to leave MaYaN due to other priorities. After two concerts in January 2015 as a replacement, the band asked her if she wanted to become a permanent member. She left MaYaN in 2023.

In the summer of 2014 she became part of Anneke van Giersbergen's The Gentle Storm, together with van Giersbergen's husband Rob Snijders. She then played several concerts with Delain. In 2015 she accompanied Delain again at other concerts with Sabaton. From October 2015 to June 2019, Bechtold was officially a permanent member of Delain. In 2019, Bechtold founded the alternative/metalcore band Dear Mother together with David Pear and former Delain member Joey de Boer.