Elvenking: A Primer

The time has come for me to do one of those posts I do when I like an artist, but can't pick a specific album to talk about. So I'll talk about all of them! The subject here is the Italian Elvenking, one of my favorite folk metal bands. For Elvenking, this means that each of their albums (save Two Tragedy Poets) is a exuberant exploration of the relationship between the electric guitar and the fiddle. This, combined with their vocalist Damnagoras' (everyone in the band goes by mononyms) distinctively passionate and youthful voice, makes for some seriously beautiful and fun-to-listen music. Lyrically, they're extremely nerdy but chock-full of beautiful poetry about fantasy and nature. If you tend to think of metal as endlessly dark, nasty, or brainless, they'll probably expand your horizons.

Heathenreel (2001), 'The first one'

Elvenking is unmistakably Elvenking on their first album, but they still seem to be in the process of picking a genre, or rather blending their distinct stylistic influences. So you get schizophrenic songs like "Skywards", which is mostly a meandering acoustic-and-fiddle piece but ends with screaming. Other songs like "The Regality of Dance" or "The Dweller of Rhymes" contain similar contrasts. Damnagoras is still improving and his vocals don't quite have the punch that they pack later. In general, Heathenreel is more toward the folk side of their folk-metal continuum than later releases. For all its rough edges, it's a great first album and a treat for folk metal lovers. If you aren't convinced, check out "Pagan Purity".

Wyrd (2004), 'The one with the different vocalist'
Okay, let's just get this out of the way. Kleid is not Damnas, but he does a pretty good job filling his no-doubt-pointy shoes. Musically, this album is a strong continuation of the sound of Heathenreel, but strikes more of an even balance between the folk and metal sides (beginning a trend towards heaviness that the next two albums continue). It's a bit more homogenous because there is less light, fluffy acoustic stuff (the chorus on "Moonchariot" is a notable exception), but a solid album by any standard. and "Pathfinders" and 12-minute "Poem for the Firmament" are pretty epic.

The Winter Wake (2006), 'The classic one'
I would consider The Winter Wake to be the best representative of the "classic" Elvenking sound; either this or Red Silent Tides is the best album to initiate yourself to the band. Damnagoras is gloriously back on The Winter Wake and the whole band seems to have hit their stride. Lots of heavy guitar riffing combined with playful fiddling, along with plenty of choral vocals (not an electronic effect, see "Trows Kind"), are terrifically fun to listen to. Acoustic songs like "On the Morning Dew" and "Disillusion's Reel" recall the lighter side of the first two albums. Some of the best songs are "Swallowtail", "The Winter Wake", "The Wanderer", and "Devil's Carriage", but really there's not a weak song to be found on this album.

The Scythe (2007), 'The awful one'
As far as slip-up albums go, The Scythe is somewhere between Helloween's Chameleon and Lulu in overall let-down factor. By far their heaviest album, it sees Elvenking dilute their distinctively wonderful style with liberal amounts of screaming (quite a bit more than on The Winter Wake) and mindless heaviosity. It's some kind of ungodly blend of screamo and folk metal. The songs also almost all begin and end with utterly bland, monotone, and fairly emo poetry. ("Death is a savior/Life is a whore") I want to like The Scythe for its metallicity, I really do, but I just can't. It's a huge departure from their earlier work. Stay away from this album unless you have all the others and really, really like the band. Or maybe if you are coming to Elvenking from extreme metal territory.

Two Tragedy Poets (2008), 'The unplugged one'
My favorite of their albums; I've already reviewed this one in depth. In an apparent and welcome reaction to The Scythe, this album almost completely subtracts the electric guitars and is mostly acoustic folk rock. It's simply glorious; simultaneously more personal and beautiful than their metal albums while retaining all of the band's mood and energy. Lots of fiddle-and-pipe action to supplement the acoustic guitars; highlights are "From Blood to Stone", "Another Awful Hobs Tale", and "Ask a Silly Question", and "My Own Spider's Web". Also two great acoustic versions of songs from The Winter Wake. This is by far their most accessible album due to not being metal; it's a bad introduction to Elvenking since it's nothing like any of the others. (In a good way)

Red Silent Tides (2010), 'The epic one'
Their latest album goes in a heavier/power-metallic and simultaneously more epic, melodic direction, bringing in lots of double-bass drumming (see "Dawnmelting", whose spoken-word and blast beat intro almost make you worry you're back in The Scythe, "The Runereader", which turns the epic factor up to 11 in the climactic solo/instrumental section, or "Your Heroes Are Dead") and instrumentation leaning more towards symphonic than folk metal ("Silence de Mort" or, again, "The Runereader"). Obviously this means I love it! Some tracks recapture some of the lightness and beauty of Two Tragedy Poets ("Possession", "Those Days", and "What's Left of Me"), while at the same time Elvenking shows themselves quite willing to rock at almost Scythe-like levels. ("Your Heroes Are Dead", "Dawnmelting", and "The Runereader"). In Red Silent Tides Elvenking has a very solid album that incorporates the strong points of their previous work and takes promising steps in new directions.