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Bands :: A-Z / E / Elvenking / |
Heathenreel - Claudia Ehrhardt - Heathenreel - Volker Raabe - The Scythe - Claudia Ehrhardt - Red Silent Tides - Mike Thompson - Era - Claudia Ehrhardt -
Era
(AFM Records - 2012)
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Italian outfit Elvenking is back with Era, their 7th album. They kick off with The Loser and soon it becomes obvious that they stick to folk-ish melodic power metal. At I Am The Monster the unique voice of Jon Oliva can be heard, since Elvenking supported Jon Oliva's Pain the Mountain King is giving the Italians a helping hand. The unusual duo works well together - and Mr. Oliva give the song the certain something. Don't get me wrong, Elvenking know very well how to write songs and have the craftsmanship, but sometimes it needs some guests to ennoble a song. A Song For The People represents their folk rock roots and it's giving the violin more space - even if at other songs guitars and violin are having equal rights. With We, Animals the powerful sounds are back. It's a quite catchy tune with big backings. At Through Wolf's Eyes it's the melancholy violin which hooks you up. At the ballad Forget-Me-Not Elvenking get joined once more by Jon Oliva, but not everybody will be pleased by the ballad... It might be too cheese for some. Towards the end they speed up for a moment and the bombastic keyboard in combination with the guitars gives it a Savatage-sque sound - as well as the counterpart vocals. A true folk rock tune is The Time Of Your Life, again the violin takes over the lead while the guitars stay in the background - and on top of it Damna's vocals. Let them enchant you! With the instrumental Ophale they slowly fade out Era. If you don't like violin sounds, then Elvenking won't please you, but if you are open-minded, give Era a try! |
Red Silent Tides
(AFM Records - 2010)
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The latest album from Italy's Elvenking opens with a short spoken intro that launches into a catchy riff. All well and good and precisely what you'd hope for and expect really. For me Elvenking is that band I always think I like more than I actually do, so I was quite excited when I heard of the new album as hopes of another Winter Wake or Heathenreel passed through my mind even those two albums are rarely in my play list! Well, this is certainly Elvenking back to doing what you'd expect. Melodic metal with folk influences are on show throughout the album so fans who hated The Scythe and the acoustic Two Tragedy Poets (...And A Caravan Of Weird Figures) will be rejoicing in the streets come release day. |
The Scythe
(AFM Records - 2007)
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In their 10th year the Italian epic power metal band Elvenking presents their 4th album - The Scythe. Their debut Heathenreel was released in 2001 and already showed their mixture of power metal with epic parts and a violin adding some folk feeling. |
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Another release of the small but ambitious German label AFM Records. This time they present a Italian band, but Elvenking are no copycats of Rhapsody or Labÿrinth! The quintet play melodic speed metal mixed with folk and progressive elements. Surely they are influenced by Skyclad, but added something which gives them a different sound which you have to check out yourself! I can't compare them to any other of this so-called folk metal bands... The Italians haven't invented a new style, but doesn't really fit in a specific genre! The Dweller Of Rhymes is one of the faster tracks which is followed by The Regality Dance which starts slowly and features the voice of singer Damnagoras. A beautiful track, very atmospheric which also offers some growls when it gets faster. At Oakenshield they added a female voice which sings the kind of opera style everybody knows from Nightwish. |
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First folk elements of their Scandinavian homeland Elvenking present before Pagan Purity is coming out of the speakers. Elvenking are presenting on their debut Heathenreel a mixture of Falconer, Vintersorg and traditional metal. The voice of singer Damnagoras needs time to get used to, then you can enjoy their compositions. The voice is which makes to love or hate the album, - the same old story - it's a matter of taste. I had my problems... The Dweller Of Rhymes starts with sweet female vocals, then the mean refrain hits you straight. All based on folk riffing, well done! Anyway, Heathenreel has some good ideas and some need time to get discovered, but at all this isn't arranged good enough to make you "Wow!" Also it lacks some real highlights. A pity! |
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