Day 107
Band Origin: Zurich, Switzerland
Genre: Folk / Melodic Death Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast
Running Time: 59 minutes
Release Date: February 10, 2012
Best Part: I explain in more detail below, but Luxtos brought me back to my childhood - and that's just too good not to mention.
Favorite Tracks: Luxtos, Helvetios, The Siege, A Rose for Epona, Havoc, and Alesia
Grade: 5.0
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Helvetios in way more than 20 words or less:
The fifth full-length release from eight piece Swiss folk metal band Eluveitie has them returning to their past success, as their Celtic folk metal and Gothenburg style melo-death influences merge together to create perhaps their finest recording to date.
The fifth full-length release from eight piece Swiss folk metal band Eluveitie has them returning to their past success, as their Celtic folk metal and Gothenburg style melo-death influences merge together to create perhaps their finest recording to date.
The Band:
Eluveitie is an eight piece folk metal band from Switzerland that merge together Gothenburg style melodice death metal and traditional Celtic folk metal to create short yet sweeping epics. The band was originally formed in 2002 by Christian "Chrigel" Glanzmann who sought to create a studio project but eventually changed his mind recruiting nine other members to create Eluveitie's initial ten member lineup including vocalist and violinist Meri Tadic who remains the only other original member of the initial group of ten. Eluveitie would sign with Nuclear Blast in 2007 and go on to record their second full length album Slania, where there were once again a few lineup changes resulting in the bands current and final eight member lineup. Eluveitie have release five full-length records to date and are working on a sixth, the follow-up to their third release Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion which was entirely acoustic. Chrigel has announced that Evocation II will also be entirely acoustic.
Jay's Take on Helvetios:
From the moment you put on Helvetios and are met with the eerie spoken word prologue over the sound of what sounds like wind howling through the trees, or waves in the distance, you know that you are in for something special - and the opening track for which the album is named serves as a perfect introduction to Eluveitie's work, whether you are just now discovering them, or are intimately familiar with them. Eluveitie, while still being classified as a Swiss folk metal band owe much of their influence to traditional Celtic folk music, which is evident in the composition style of the group but also in the use of traditional instruments, including: bagpipes, tin whistles and flutes, the hurdy gurdy, the bohdrán and the fiddle. The other side of the coin is a more Gothenburg style influence with melodic lead and rhythm guitar passages, solos and the blend of vocals between clean harmonies from Meri Tadic and the harsh screams and death growls by Chrigel. Helvetios is rich album, which featured a total of 17 tracks, all of which average between two and a half to five minutes in length. Despite the shorter compositions, Eluveitie know how to string together something epic in breadth in just a few short moments, as you get a true sens that you're experiencing a series of epic folk tales. There are no significant points of slowing down throughout the entire 60 minutes of music that the band has put together as you are introduced to varying rhythms and levels of energy from beginning to end.
It's also always fun when a track on a record catches your attention for one reason or another, and that would be the track Luxtos. After researching it a bit I found out I was right, as the song is a reprisal of the traditional Breton song La Jument de Michao which has been interpreted by a number of folk centric artists in France over the years. One version in particular instantly jumped into mind, which was by the Celtic inspired French rap group Manau - bizarre I know, but it's a song from my childhood so the first time I heard this track and made the link it opened a real torrent of memories for me.
Sample of the Day:
The title track and as mentioned above the track Luxtos and a little love for Manau.
- J
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