Eluveitie’s 2008 release “Slania” is one of my all time favourite albums. I think it’s fantastic, having the right blend of Folk and Metal played by hugely talented musicians, all wrapped up in great arrangements and interesting songs. And that gives me a problem. Once a band has released an album that means so much to me it is pretty much impossible to top it. And predictably enough I wasn’t anywhere near as blown away by the two that followed – both competent well executed releases that had moments of brilliance, but just didn’t hit the spot. Their 2012 release “Helvetios” however came bloody close! Hitting the right balance once more, I felt the band had found their niche and finally knew what to do with it. So I admit, I was rather excited about hearing their latest offering “Origins”, after all, Eluveitie are in a Folk Metal class of their own.
One other problem I have when embarking on this review, is that Eluveitie only really sound like Eluveitie, so really all I can do is compare them to their previous works. They have their own way of blending Melodic Death Metal with traditional folk melodies that is totally unique to them. So, with that in mind, first impressions dictate that “Origins” a very similar feeling album to “Helvetios”. Like “Helvetios” there’s Scottish accented spoken word passages scattered throughout as the band delve deeper into the plight of the ancient Gaul (though Asterix and Obelisk both fail to make an appearance). The layout of the album differs a little, though a lot of their familiar traits make a welcome return. We are treated to a fabulous intro as is expected, but the main melody line is carried through in a heavier guise to form the basis of first track proper ‘The Nameless’ – and we are off to a great start. At this point it needs to be reiterated that Eluveitie are an amazingly talented bunch of musicians, emphatically led by founding member Chrigel Glanzmann. Personally, I think Drummer Merlin Sutter is a very underrated and essential member of the band. He is in stunning form from the offset. Always doing just what is needed and more, his time-changes and rhythms are fantastic throughout – as always! An inspiration to any budding tub-thumpers out there!
There are 2 new members in the band for “Origins”, guitarist Rafael Salzman is in and so is new fiddle player Nicole Ansperger, replacing long-term violinist Meri Tadic. I make the distinction between the two instruments because it’s the style in which they are played that’s important here. Meri is a fantastic Violinist, but Nicole is one hell of a fiddle player as well as being a great violinist! It’s an art, and her first chance to shine is her solo on the rip-roaring ‘From Darkness’, and Wow does she shine! So much so that I found myself specifically listening out for her excellent contributions throughout the album.
There are three Anna Murphy vocally led tracks on ‘Origins’ (all of which still include extreme vocals from Glanzmann to varying degrees), which is about the norm. The first one, ‘Celtus’ is an almost Mediaeval sounding affair with dual vocals based around an ancient sounding rhythmic chant, along with a catchy double-voice-with-whistle chorus. Based around fabulous off-set pounding drum rhythms, the whole thing comes across like a more tribal ‘Inis Mona’, and very effective it is too. The other two “Anna” tracks are ‘Vianna’, which is similar to previous offering ‘Alisia’ in structure and tempo, and ‘Call Of The Mountains’, which I initially decided was a touch too commercial for my liking. Maybe it was the Eurovision style key change near the end but I didn’t take to this track at all within the confines of the album. Then a few days later my player on random chucked it in and I couldn’t get the bloody thing out of my head! It’s certainly a way into the band – upbeat, and very catchy, but I’ll let the individual listener decide how well it fits into ‘Origins’, because it’s still a great song in it’s own right.
Every Eluveitie album has a song that seems to encapsulate the bands style, and for me this time it’s ‘Sucellos’. Starting with something unexpected – a rhythmic, almost industrial whiplash repeat, it’s the first track to lead off with a main guitar riff. Rhythmic and punctuated, the drums echo it, giving the song it’s leading dynamic. There’s a fabulous pipe/whistle melody line before a double-kick driven verse and off-beat bridge. The chorus, though grunted, is actually catchy (in an Amon Amarth/Arch Enemy way), before repeating. A nice Hurdy-gurdy break from Anna makes me expect the verse or chorus next, but there’s a whispered chanting bit, a scream, and into more Metal heaviness, and THEN a repeated chorus. Eluveitie at their finest.
There isn’t a bad track on “Origins”. Whether it’s the more Melodic Death, almost Thrash flavour of ‘Inception’ (with brilliant whistle refrain), ‘King’ – that balances an enormously heavy verse, with gorgeous folk melody and another bloody brilliant fiddle section, the sombre, reflective, heavy, punching, immense sounding ‘Carry The Torch’ or even a beautiful instrumental like ‘Eternity, ‘Origins’ has it all. If you have never heard the band before it’s a great first foray, if you are already a fan you will not be disappointed. If you are looking for a band to break some kind of new ground and change their style with every release then go find some other act to get bored with when they don’t meet your latest fad requirements – because I, like many more Eluveitie fans out there, just want to enjoy a band that are at the top of their field and excelling at what they do, in the style they have crafted. I’m not looking for another “Slania”, that’s not really attainable, I’m just looking for another great Eluveitie release…and I got it!
(9/10 Andy Barker)
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