Written by Kirsti Heitz TRACK LISTING Dvressu Epona Svcellos II (Sequel) Nantosvelta Tovtatis Lvgvs Grannos Cervnnos Catvrix Artio Aventia Ogmios Esvs Antvmnos Tarvos II (Sequel) Belenos Taranis Nemeton Release Date: August 18, 2017 Label: Nuclear Blast Records Website: www.eluveitie.ch www.facebook.com/eluveitie www.twitter.com/eluveitie | ELUVEITIE IS: Jonas Wolf - Rhythm guitars Matteo Sisti - Whistles, bagpipes & mandola Nicole Ansperger - Fiddle Alain Ackermann - Drums Chrigel Glanzmann - Vocals, whistles, mandola, bagpipes, bodhran Fabienne Erni - Vocals, celtic harp & mandola Kay Brem - Bass Michalina Malisz - Hurdy gurdy Rafael Salzmann - Guitars |
By lucky chance, I was in the countryside when giving this album a first listen, so the mystical melodies, primal beats and earthy tunes were enhanced by a Nature setting. This is 100% the best way to listen to this album, and if you can get a fire going, I’m sure at some point you will feel transported to ages long past.
This is definitely the ambiance that Eluveitie is going for thanks to the Gallic lyrics taken from a 2000 year old booklet and aided by linguists and historians so that the Fabienne and Chrigel get as close to the original pronunciation as currently possible. With songs named after ancient Celtic Gods, the listener can only imagine what is being sung, but the catchy arrangements are enough to get you trying to sing along as best as you can.
I do feel like a big focus of this album was to show fans what Fabienne can do in the place of ex-vocalist Anna Murphy. She has a great singing style, but at times I felt like she went a little too Lorena McKenitt on us. I would have liked to hear a couple more arrangements with Chrigel, though I get that in an acoustic album, it’s a bit hard to subtly introduce gutturals without having them take over. A big favourite of mine was the up-beat single and heaviest track on the album, “Epona,” as well as the instrumental cover “Anvmnos” which sounds like Eluveitie’s interpretation of the classic “House Of The Rising Sun.”
The one downside I can pin point in this album is that the repeating themes and arrangements that Eluvietie are famous for are echoed a little too much, making a couple of the songs sounds like you’ve heard them before. But all in all, this is a great album to have around for when you simply need a little detox from heavy guitars and blasting drums, or for listeners who simply love traditional folk songs with a modern edge.
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