Mari Leaving Eluveitie

It really bothers me how few zines and sites are bothering to even mention the departure of Eluveitie violinist/vocalist Meri Tadic. Also, why the hell would she leave a band that she had such a key role in? Considering the unique vocal contributions she's made on Helvetios and Everything Remains, I can't imagine it being easy at all to find a replacement. After missing them numerous times, I finally got to see them live at the end of 2012 when they headlined a very successful tour with Wintersun (their first ever tour of the states) and Varg (the German band, not the Norsk guy), where they played their (at the time) new album, Helvetios, all the way through....and then playing two or three of their really famous songs from previous records (I was upset they didn't play Thousandfold, which surprised me). But the one thing I noticed about their performance was the amount of focus that was put on Meri Tadic.

If you've listened to the album, you know what I'm talking about when I say that she was a big part of the album's sound. Because these folk metal bands like to have these drawn-out, atmospheric interludes during their performance, Eluveitie pretty much had Meri lead all of them. During every interlude or whatever you want to call them (there were several all throughout their set, one of them had to be AT LEAST five minutes long), the whole band would exit the stage (sometimes the guy with the beard playing the bagpipes would stay) except for Meri. All of the lights would go out except for the ones pointed at the spot where she was standing. And during these interludes, she would just stand there and belt out these ridiculous and amazing celtic-style melodies and chants. It was one of the most unforgettable things I've ever seen at a metal show.

So now that her role in the band has become much more important and unique.......she just leaves?? Her reason for leaving must have been very, very big and made her really feel cornered. I know that neither Meri or the band explicitly stated the actual reason for her leaving, but when you look at how much those fuckers tour, it seems like a very possible reason for someone to feel forced to leave. A lot of members quietly leave bands (it was hard to do that with Eluveitie considering how famous they are) due to tour exhaustion. A lot of members of Soilwork ended up leaving purely because they physically couldn't handle the amount of touring that they had to do (that band tours A LOT by the way). So I can't think of any other reason she would choose to leave other than tour exhaustion.

In case you don't know what I mean, I have included two tour shirts. The first one is the Everything Remains World Tour shirt, which has every concert from 1/11/2010-1/23/2012....that's over two years of straight touring...and then the Helvetios World Tour (second shirt) starts not even a week after the Everything Remains Tour ENDS. So that's not even a break! The only reason they're two different tours is because a new album was released! The shirt actually only shows the first half of the Helvetios World Tour 1/27/2012-10/21/2012). But actually, the tour continues on until the final date in their home country on 9/28/2013.

So the Everything Remains World Tour goes from 1/11/2010-1/23/2012 and the Helvetios World Tour goes from 1/27/2012-9/28/2013. During that time, the band never took a break lasting more than 1.5 weeks, with the exception of four separate 1 month-long breaks. I don't really consider 1-2 weeks off from touring as time off from touring in the case of Eluveitie because someone that tours as much as them is going to require more than a week to recover and recharge. So basically, with the exception of those 4 breaks, Eluveitie have been touring constantly from January 2010-September 2013. Um...that's drawing pretty damn close to FOUR YEARS of straight touring. Look at me and tell me that you wouldn't feel tired after that.

Reasons aside, Mari was a very big part of Eluveitie and will be missed dearly by a lot of people, myself included. I didn't know she released a solo album, so I'm going to be checking that out in a few days. I also plan on posting a few reviews before the end of the year since fall quarter just ended. 

+Crinn

Finntroll - Blodsvept [EP]

It’s not easy to make a list of Finnish metal bands without mentioning the folk metal masters Finntroll. Yes, they aren’t as big as some of Finland’s other metal bands like Apocalyptica, Nightwish, HIM, Wintersun, Children of Bodom, Ensiferum, Turisas, Korpiklaani, Sonata Arctica, Amorphis, and Stratovarius, but the chances of Finntroll not coming up on a “best metal bands from Finland” list are next to nothing. And Finntroll aren’t new at all, they’ve got almost 20 years, five full-lengths, and now three EPs under their belts. Blodsvept is the first new material that we’ve heard out of Finntroll since the release of their highly-acclaimed Nifelvind in 2010. The Blodsvept EP features two tracks of fresh, new material, two live recordings of songs from their Nattfodd album from when they played at the legendary Wacken Open Air metal festival, a cover of a techno/new wave song, and a previously unreleased demo of a song that only the hardcore Finntroll fans know, Rivfader. Although I would prefer for the EP to be completely made up of new material (and then maybe a live bonus track or something), this is enough to hold me over until their next release.

I’m not sure what was up with the logo from the cover of Nifelvind, but I’m glad to see them go back to their fucking awesome logo on this EP. I usually don’t take the sound of material on EPs and assume that their next full-length is going to sound just like it. In fact, most of the time, EPs seem to sound different from the rest of a band’s material. These mini records tend to act as little splurts of random and unusual creativity from a band and are released as EPs because of that. I like to listen to EPs that bands release, especially if they’re released later in a band’s career, because they sometimes show a different side of that band’s sound that hasn’t gotten very much exposure. This seems to kind of be the case with Finntroll’s Blodsvept EP. The thing that puzzled me the most as to why I couldn’t understand anything Finntroll wrote (song names, lyrics, album titles) is because although the band is Finnish, their original vocalist was part of the Swedish-speaking population of Finland. I guess he felt that the sound of the Swedish language was more fitting to their odd music than Finnish. And apparently although the band has gone through several vocalist changes, the Swedish lyrics have remained a tradition within the band. So if you’re like me and can’t understand Swedish, Blodsvept is Swedish for “Blood Swept”. The title song, which is the opening track on this EP is the song that I am going to talk about first.

Blodsvept starts with the awakening of…I don’t even want to know. The only words that pop into my head when I hear the intro to that song are “it’s alive!!” So after this…thing that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the song (it probably does, though, just assume I’m wrong about that) comes out of the dark, what comes next may come as a surprise to some Finntrollheads. Instead of the blasting and energy-filled montage of fiddles and distorted guitars that just about every Finntroll album starts off with, Blodsvept comes in with a fairly mellow tone. Not to say that it’s SOFT, but it definitely sounds considerably less energetic when compared with all the other Finntroll releases. The production quality is cleaner than most of the other really rough Finntroll albums, but it still sounds great. To be honest, there really isn’t anything at all about the sound quality of the two new tracks that I can complain about; everything’s balanced, the distortion is clean, the vocals are audible, it all checks out! I guess you could say that the symphonic instruments on the song Blodsvept make it sound almost cheesy. Being more used to their fun, but extremely chaotic and aggressive sound, this lack of aggressiveness made it harder to get into. But now that I’ve listened to it over and over again, I understand the music a lot more and even see what kind of sound these guys were aiming for. For those of you expecting fast, moshable song, Blodsvept isn’t that. I love the song, and I love the mood that it sets, but I think there’s a little bit TOO much energy that has been taken out. The drum patterns are tight, but end up becoming boring and repetitive. This is the same with the guitars. After a while, it kind of seems like Finntroll wrote this song with more of a minimalistic perspective, which makes it more understandable than the complexity that they’re known for writing.

Because a lot of websites don’t seem to like it when I type in foreign letters, I’ll just say that the second track is Swedish for “When Giants are Marching” or something along those lines. And it makes sense because the song has a thick and heavy beat that sounds like…well…a marching song! I like this song a lot more than Blodsvept simply because it has more to it. There’s more texture, it’s more complex, there are a lot more interesting and catchy riffs, and it just sounds fucking epic! Again, it appears that Finntroll wrote this song in a minimalist state of mind. The fact that this song has more energy is the main reason why it’s more enjoyable. But it’s also because it doesn’t grow stale and repetitive after the first two minutes. The strings, whistles, and horns (uncommon in folk metal, but common for Finntroll) give everything an exhilarating feel. I would like for there to be more of a contrast in speed during the chorus, but it’s good nonetheless. My favorite parts of this song are the parts right after the melodic lead line in the chorus, right where everything breaks down and releases all the energy in the same manner a breakdown releases the tension in deathcore and metalcore.

I’m not the biggest fan of live recordings, but the two live tracks are good. The song that surprised me was the cover. If you were alive and aware of popular culture during the 1980s and early 1990s, you most likely remember the new wave/pop duet known as The Pet Shop Boys. Yes, that’s right, the fucking Pet Shop Boys. Finntroll apparently decided to cover one of their most famous songs, Can You Forgive Her? In the same way that Children of Bodom covered Britney Spears, the folk metal behemoths cover The Pet Shop Boys, Finntroll style. And by “Finntroll style” I mean the whole shebang; the heavy guitars, the fun folk metal sound, the strings, the bagpipes, everything! As much as I am NOT a fan of The Pet Shop Boys, this is a damn good cover, probably one of the best metal covers of a pop song I’ve ever heard.

Finntroll’s Blodsvept EP is definitely worth a listen for any fan of Finntroll, folk metal, or Finnish music. The difference in sound isn’t something that I’ll be expecting from their new album (watch their new album sound like this just because I said that), but it’s a fucking treat to the ears. I probably won’t be listening to this a whole lot due to the lack of energy, lack of new material, and the fact that one of the songs is monotonous and repetitive after a while. I would give the Blodsvept EP a score of 14/20. 

Moonsorrow - Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa

Finland is one of the top countries when it comes to any sort of melodic or progressive style of heavy metal. Despite the obvious like Apocalyptica, Nightwish, and HIM, Finland is also proficient in the extreme metal areas. Some of the lesser-known but still iconic Finnish bands (all of which I would HIGHLY recommend) include Insomnium, Swallow the Sun, Korpiklaani, Children of Bodom, Eternal Tears of Sorrow, Wintersun, Amorphis, Turisas, Ensiferum, Before the Dawn, Finntroll, Rotten Sound, Sonata Arctica, Tarot, and the folk metal band that I am going to talk about today, the one and only Moonsorrow. If you are reading this and have no idea who the fuck Moonsorrow is, they play a style of folk metal that’s based on melodic death (like Eluveitie, Finntroll, etc.) that, most of the time, includes profound melodies, slower tempos, simpler instrumentations, but varying song structures, and a softer vibe. Except what makes Moonsorrow unique is that although there is a melodic death influence, it’s black metal that makes up most of the basis of their sound. Here’s the importance of Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa: it demonstrates the closest the band has ever been to their original sound since their early demos.

Moonsorrow started out as a black metal band. Five years after they released their first demo, the band released their debut full-length, which was almost pure folk metal. Ever since the release of their 2005 album, Moonsorrow have grown closer to their original black metal sound with each release. Are they going back in time? Actually, they’re not. The one thing from their first album that they haven’t let go of is the Finnish folk element. After taking the time to listen to their early demos (which are pretty much just mediocre black metal), it’s obvious why they haven’t let go of their folk sound, and that is because it makes everything they play sound beautiful. Everything black metal-related about Moonsorrow is intensified by the folk metal influence. The darkness and grimness of the black metal, when combined with the melodic beauty of folk metal, adds up to an album that projects beauty, color, emotion, darkness, and depression. There are no “up-beat” moments on Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa. It has texture, variety, and confidence, but the overall mood of the album is that of being in a big, empty, cold, barren, but peaceful place all alone. This is the type of mood that I’m an absolute sucker for. But this cold and desolate world that Moonsorrow creates with this record is also magical and beautiful in every single area.

There are some that wouldn’t even agree with the presence of the melodic death influence. Although they would be in the right direction, there is some present. But black metal is the sound that takes the wheel on this one. The two main elements that have black metal roots are the vocals and the type of melody. If you’re a black metal fanatic like me, you know exactly what kind of vocals I’m talking about. Are they the shitty black metal vocals? Not no, but hell no. The vocals sound slightly similar to that of Naglfar, Gorgoroth, Dark Tranquility (not black metal), and Melechesh. They’re strong, never shaky, and even include some deep growls here and there (part of the melodic death influence).

The style of melody is without a doubt black metal. The sounds of the acoustic guitars, flutes, tin whistles, accordions, mouth harp, and other stringed instruments do give the music a nice mystical folk atmosphere, but none of it changes the darkness of the black metal underneath. The black metal part is much darker, more melodic, and heavier than your average black metal band, which is the part that’s influenced by Finnish melodic death metal. Some examples of black metal bands that are extremely melodic like Moonsorrow would include Wolves in the Throne Room, Agalloch (not pure black metal), Nokturnal Mortum, and Shining. In fact, the desolate and sorrowful melody of Moonsorrow also shares a lot of similarities with one of my favorite musical genres, depressive black metal. The extremely dark, depressing, but beautiful melodies heard within the depressive black metal genre have probably had a huge influence on Moonsorrow’s sound. One of the more oddball, but very pretty moments that’s very similar to Swallow the Sun’s music is the intro to Huuto, the acoustic guitar part backed with the soft keyboard pad that ends up becoming the lead line for the rest of the song. Does melodic mean not heavy? FUCK NO. Saying that Moonsorrow isn’t heavy is one of the most inaccurate statements that can ever be said about this album (or Moonsorrow in general). Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa is one of the heaviest folk metal albums in existence. It just has a lot of extra shit on top of it that makes it sound less heavy when compared to the folk metal bands with music that’s less complex.

If you’re used to listening to stuff by Tool, Opeth, Dream Theater, Sleep, and Xasthur, you’re not going to have any problem listening to these guys. For those of you still stuck in the 2-7 minute range, be aware that all of the songs on this album are more than 10 minutes long. Moonsorrow creates a repeating transition in between every song where you hear nothing but a light wind and a man hiking through this beautiful wasteland they’ve created. I don’t see any significance of these interludes other than that they really help strengthen the depressive atmosphere of the album.

Moonsorrow’s unique approach on black metal is part of why so many people like them. Besides the fact that the folk elements make their sound unique, the guitars on Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa are very heavy, crunchy, and have a lot of bass. Usually, on your average black metal record, the guitars are low-tuned, but fairly high-pitched with little to no bass at all. So with the black metal style of playing and the black metal-sounding melodies being played with very powerful and heavy guitars creates a sound that a lot of black metal bands haven’t chosen to explore. One of the first bands to do this is the Swedish progressive black band Shining (I would recommend their album V – Halmstad). But then again, the deep sound of the guitars could also be influenced by the guitar distortions heard in melodic death.

Moonsorrow are, without a doubt, one of the best at what they do. Their entire discography is fantastic, but this masterpiece just eliminates any sort of competition. Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa is Moonsorrow’s best album yet. Not only is the music beautiful, the album cover is fantastic. I would recommend this to fans of folk metal, melodic death, black metal, Finnish music, and depressive black metal. This is something that everyone needs to have in their collection, I cannot stress that enough. It’s easy to impress me, but it’s hard to amaze me. And Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa has amazed me to the point to where I would give it a 20/20.

Trollfest - Brumlebassen

Folk metal has been making a huge comeback lately. Bands like Eluveitie, Korpiklaani, Ensiferum, Tyr, Moonsorrow, Alestorm, and Turisas have been getting a lot of attention with the albums they’ve been putting out. Among these bands (almost all being from Europe) is the mighty (but lesser-known) Trollfest. Those that are familiar with the folk metal genre knows that it can come in two basic variations. There are the more melodic, slower, darker, and more epic bands like Eluveitie, Moonsorrow, Ensiferum, and Heidevolk. And there are also the bands that are completely energetic and up-beat, often times being all about drinking (Alestorm, Korpiklaani, Turisas). Although there are numerous folk metal bands that don’t exclusively fit into one of these categories (Tyr, Finntroll, Equilibrium, etc.), but we can all see that the majority of the folk metal genre is divided into these two sounds. Trollfest, like Korpiklaani, is one of the craziest, most fun, most party-appropriate folk metal bands ever. The difference, though? Trollfest is heavy as....something extremely heavy.

Trollfest implements a lot of thrash black and melodic death into their music. The different variations of arpeggios that the accordion and lead guitars play are not extremely common in heavy metal, which is good because it brings in some outside flavor. As far as the arrangements of each song go, they’re pretty good, but there can be times where the sound gets undefined and unorganized. Although I will be addressing each individual member’s performance on this album in my review, I would like to mention that this is one of those bands that sound better as a whole than individually. Let’s talk about the vocals on Brumlebassen first.

The vocals are almost exclusively high-pitched screams similar to that of Children of Bodom. But unlike Children of Bodom, the vocalist keeps things interesting by throwing in some growls here in there, especially in the song Finsken, Norsken og Presten. On top of that, there are several tracks (mainly the interludes) that contain singing. As far as the vocals go, Brublebassen is the Trollfest album with the best vocals because some of the other Trollfest albums have vocals that, well, aren’t exactly something that one would consider better than average. Those of you that are like me and enjoy the various lyrical themes that folk metal has to offer, when you listen to the older Trollfest albums, the mood is much more serious and the songs follow basic stories based on Norwegian mythology. Now, their music is about...you guessed it, trolls, trolls, beer, trolls, and more TROLLS!

Besides their odd obsession with trolls, Trollfest is unique because of something even more interesting: their speed. Listen to the first song off the album (also the title track) titled Brumlebassen. It’s not too often that you blast beats that are THAT ridiculous on a folk metal album. The utter chaos that the insane speed of the blast beats and the whole music itself creates within the listener can make me only imagine what their live shows must be like. The way the drums are mixed is okay, it sounds good with the rest of the band’s sound, but it would help it they were less mushy because the blast beats blend in with the rest of the band too much. The drummer’s style is that of an insane black metal drummer. He plays pretty much all of the traditional folk metal patterns, and then some more interesting beats of his own. But the most notable thing about his skill is his ability to play some of the fastest blast beats I’ve ever heard outside of technical death and brutal death.

There isn’t anything outstanding about the accordion player other than that he also plays a banjo and that he’s in a metal band (yes, I know that Stolen Babies, Korpiklaani, and other metal bands have accordion players in them). I really wish that we could hear more from the saxophonist because the few parts that he has are great. No, they’re not outstanding, if you want outstanding sax shit, go listen to some of the contemporary jazz that’s out there. But although his creativity lacks some, he definitely expresses some intense instrumental skill.

The guitars are great, but they’re way too overpowering. The bass can rarely be heard, which is disappointing because he’s probably playing some interesting shit behind the wall of guitar distortion. So because of the guitars, I unfortunately can’t make any comments on the bassist until I see them live this April at Paganfest 2013. Anyways, both guitarists do an exceptional job of keeping up with the drums, following along with the accordion, and a good sense of variety in both styles and tempo. The distortion is good, but everything else is mixed in a way that it all blends in with the guitar distortion to create a slightly less-than-enjoyable sound where nothing is easily distinguishable.

Brumlebassen has a sound that is not only unique, but also fun, engaging, energetic, chaotic, and original. Trollfest is a band that every fan of folk metal should look up, because there’s a very tiny chance (if any at all) that you’ve heard something like this before. Although I am currently undecided as to which Trollfest album is my personal favorite, Brumlebassen isn’t a bad place at all to start. Brumlebassen is a record for people looking for something new, especially if they’re fans of folk metal and Norwegian metal bands. Look this album up. I would give this album a score of 15/20.

Korpiklaani - Ukon Wacka

Here’s what I’ve noticed when it comes to European folk music (not the shitty American folk), there’s two types: the really atmospheric and melodic kind, and the really upbeat and fast kind that they play at get-togethers. Ok, now let’s put that into folk METAL perspective: the soft and melodic folk can be found in Ensiferum and Eluveitie, and the really upbeat folk can be found in none other than KORPIKLAANI! Being all about fun and (obviously) beer, Korpiklaani delivers a one-of-a-kind musical experience that is hard to compare to anything else (no, Alestorm doesn’t count, they’re not nearly cool enough). When I had the pleasure to see Korpiklaani live a few months ago (in case you’re wondering, I was in fact totally smashed by the time they came on), it was like a party instead of a metal show. In the pit, people weren’t moshing, they were running towards each other from opposite corners, interlocking arms, and dancing around like some kind of motherfucking square dance! It was one of the most fun metal experiences I’ve ever had and I suggest you check them out since they’re coming back again with Moonsorrow. But let’s talk about my personal favorite record by these Finns, Ukon Wacka.

For some reason, Korpiklaani’s music is hard to break down because it’s so damn easy to just describe it in a few sentences. But I’m going to make an honest attempt at it. Well first of all, all of the songs on this album (except for the Motorhead cover) are in Finnish, which I understand perfectly. And after reading all the lyrics, whoever wrote them was obviously either really fucking happy or heavily intoxicated because they’re all about partying, alcohol, and having a hell of a good time.

The coolest thing about Korpiklaani is that they go all out and be ORIGINAL. They wear elk-skin clothes and leather moccasins, they have an accordion player, a fucking amazing guy on the fiddle, and I think one of the guys plays the bagpipes but I’m not sure. The one thing that I DO know for sure is that none of the folk instruments are tracked or played on the keyboards. Not that it makes any difference, but it really shows how dedicated these guys are to being PURE FUCKING FOLK METAL!

 Although personally, folk metal usually isn’t my first choice, Korpiklaani, Ensiferum, and Eluveitie have never ceased to impress me. In other words, I’m not a huge fan of folk metal, but this album is fucking FANTASTIC and one of the most fun records in my collection. My favorite member of the band is the fiddle player. And it’s not because of the instrument he plays, it’s because he’s one of the best fiddle players that I’ve heard since I first started listening to The Dixie Dregs (a southern progressive rock band my dad is obsessed with) when I was ten years old. Overall, the individual members don’t have too much technical skill, but as a whole band, the creativity is undeniable; I repeat, UNDENIABLE. These guys have managed to play the exact same kind of music for almost ten years and have it NEVER get old or bland. Instead, each album seems to be better than the last. I would give this album 18/20 for being my favorite non-Eluveitie folk metal album. My favorite song on this record is definitely Tequilla (which is ironically the single). This album NEEDS to have a home in EVERYBODY’S music library. 

Eluveitie - Helvetios

Eluveitie has been in my music collection since late 2009 when I got Slania. When the band posted the music video for their (at the time) brand new song, Thousandfold, I went to Nuclear Blast and pre-ordered Everything Remains as it Never Was. That statement alone should tell you how quickly and strongly this band has pulled me (and millions of other people) into their one-of-a-kind musical universe of beauty and tranquility. But using big words and writing like I’m some kind of Canadian fantasy novelist isn’t going to get my point across. This is (yet again) one of those times where I thought “these guys can’t POSSIBLY get any better than this!” and was proved wrong when the next album was released. For those of you that aren’t familiar with Eluveitie, here’s a really good description of their sound: if you’re at all familiar with European folk music, you’re aware that there is the really ambient and melodic folk, and the really upbeat and happy folk (most notably as being used by Korpiklaani). Eluveitie takes the atmospheric and melodic European folk music and fuses it with melodic death metal. Although they do far more than just fusing those two completely different genres, that’s the blueprint that they build 90% of their songs off of.

As far as the sound of everything on the record, it sounds almost EXACTLY like their 2010 album. Not necessarily a bad thing, but don’t expect the instruments to sound any different than Everything Remains. Probably a difference that sound nerds would notice is that this album has a butt-ton more bass than Everything Remains. As well as that, the majority of the music sounds just like Everything Remains. Here’s why I don’t consider this a bad thing: it’s perfectly fine if a band makes two albums in a row that have the same sound as long as the THIRD album sound different. There is such a thing as too much change because it kind of makes it hard to keep up with. I actually like it when bands release two albums in a row that have the same basic sound…but only if the sound is AMAZING.

And the sound IS amazing! The musicians seem to have improved their instrumental and technical skills to make the music sound more complex. That’s the biggest twist this album has that sets it apart from all the previous ones; this album is one of their more technical releases. And yes, I know that there are other songs from previous albums that are very fast and very technical; but as an album in its whole, Helvetios seems more complex, especially in the folk instruments. That’s another thing I forgot to mention! The folk instruments aren’t in the background anymore!! Instead, they’re either right beside the guitars or in the very front of the line next to the vocalist. And speaking of that Swiss, folk-loving metal vocalist with the super-long dreads; his vocals have improved dramatically (and I thought he had reached perfection in Everything Remains!).

Remember that one song from Everything Remains, Quoth the Raven, where the female violinist sang and even let out an ear-splitting scream? Well guess what, apparently the band liked that and decided to put her singing in most of the songs on Helvetios. If you want a text description of what her SCREAMS sound like, they sound a hell of a lot like Lacey from Flyleaf (whose screams are phenomenal). As far as individual songs go, I’m not going to go into TOO much depth because I want you to get the damn album. BUT, if you were to ask me my favorites, at the moment my favorites are the second and third tracks; but all of the songs are amazing! I would give this album 19/20.

Eluveitie - Everything Remains as it Never Was

When you first hear about it, you think “melodic death metal mixed with European folk? That can’t possibly work!” The genre commonly known as “folk metal” has been around for about ten or so years. During that time, a handful of bands have risen from that area to become very successful, such as Korpiklaani, Ensiferum, Finntroll, Turisas, and Eluveitie. Most of these bands are from Finland (all of the bands I just listed are Finnish except for Eluveitie). I never really thought that a mix of those two genres could work out very well, that is, until I heard Inis Mona by Eluveitie. When I heard that song, I was instantly hooked…but the rest of that album wasn’t as impressive as I was expecting; it was actually a bit disappointing. But that didn’t mean I gave up on them, I got their other stuff, but none of their other albums gave me that buzzy feel that Inis Mona gave me, so I still listened to their other albums and discovered other folk metal bands while I waited for the new Eluveitie record.

Honestly, all you have to do is listen to their music to be able to tell why they’re on Nuclear Blast. Pretty much only the amazing bands get on Nuclear Blast, and (most the time) the best out of those that get enlisted end up staying on the roster. 2010 was a great year for the Nuclear Blast label, with amazing records such as Mnemic’s Sons of the System, Soilwork’s The Panic Broadcast, Exodus’ Exhibit B, Sabaton’s Coat of Arms, Death Angel’s Relentless Retribution, Keep of Kalessin’s Reptilian, and MANY more, Everything Remains as it Never Was got added to the list.

Eluveitie made a big change that made their music a lot better. They turned up the volume on their guitars, but they turned up the volume on their folk instruments even louder. So basically, they’ve put a lot more emphasis on their folk sound to give their music a really mystical, old European feeling. There are even some songs at the end of the album that are just bagpipes, my favorite being The Otherworld Set. You can actually hear that chick’s hurdy gurdy in this album! I never even knew that they had one until I saw the Inis Mona music video (yes people, I know what a hurdy gurdy is). But if you listen to songs like Thousandfold and Setlon, the hurdy gurdy stands out.

On top of having more folk in their music, the metal part is even more metal. When I say that, I mean that it’s faster, heavier, and louder. There is a lot more fast drumming (I bet their drummer had a lot of fun recording this). For those of you that want to hear the heavier side of this album, listen to the song Kingdom Come Undone. I saw a video of them playing this song live and the moshpit was pretty damn huge. But even though there’s a lot more of a metal sound, the folk instruments balance it out perfectly so that it still has the traditional Eluveitie vibe. I also think that the vocals are a lot better in this album.

I think that their vocalist has really taken some time to work on the sound of his mid-range growls and his high-pitched screams. They sound a lot cleaner and it’s easy to tell that he’s not straining himself on any of the parts. I also think that all of the changes in the music have made the music match and sound better along with his growls. Because before, his vocals didn’t really fit the music as well as it does now. Of course, sticking to European fantasy and folk tales is what the vocalist puts in his lyrics, but he also tells stories of death, darkness, and depression.

The most unique song off of this album is Quoth the Raven. This song is an extremely enjoyable listen mainly because of the chorus, where the mid-range growls are backed up by one of the female members’ singing. This song is also one of those slower songs, but still with a thick and heavy beat, if you don’t see what I’m getting at, I’m talking about headbanging. I also love the very powerful and emotional sound of Thousandfold. Although it may not appear that way in the music video, but the entire band has claimed that this song stirs more emotions within them than any other song has. And I sort of know what they mean, because I get that powerful stir of emotions whenever I listen to this song (as well as the urge to

This is an album that I certainly don’t listen to as much as I should. Maybe it’s because the whole folk metal thing isn’t one of the genres that sticks out to me the most. But I’ll tell you, when I do listen to this album, I love it. I actually bought the CD when I was down in southern Florida last summer, so I can say that I’ve thrown in some money to support the band and the label. Another thing that I would like to add is that there is this guy that goes to a lot of the metal shows that I go to, although I never see him outside of the venues, we’ve gotten to know each other a bit. He only owns one metal band shirt, and it’s an Eluveitie shirt. And I was thinking of getting it because it’s their 2010 world tour shirt, and the list of dates on the back is so big that the font size is so small that it’s barely readable! This album gets a solid 19/20. Look this up if you haven’t yet, it’s worth it.