Editor’s Pick #137: Eluveitie

Editor’s Pick #137: Eluveitie by Dan

July 15, 2009, 1:08 pm
Filed under: Editor Picks | Tags: Bodhràn, Dark Tranquillity, Editor's Picks, Eluveitie, Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion, folk metal, mandola, Nuclear Blast, Slania, Uillean Pipes, Ven

Swiss folk metal band Eluveitie released their third studio album "Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion" in May

Ever wondered what the soundtrack to Lord of the Rings would sound like if it had been done by a heavy metal band? Look no further than Switzerland’s Eluveitie for your answer.

Eluveitie (pronounced El-Vey-Ti) combine a harsh, driving metal sound with European folk music influences. This combination, known simply as “folk metal” throughout the heavy metal community, has been around since the early 1990s, but often falls victim to unimaginable levels of cheesiness when bands fail to balance the folk equally with the metal. By putting emphasis not just on the folk side of things, but also on their contemporary melodic death metal tendencies (think later Dark Tranquillity), Eluveitie have established themselves as a force to be reckoned with, and have won a great deal of critical acclaim across the metal world.

Vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Christian “Chrigel” Glanzmann started the band as a studio project in 2002, releasing the EP Ven shortly thereafter. Since then, their lineup has fluctuated between three and 10 members, with the current number being eight. In addition to the ‘usual suspsects’ – guitar, bass and drums, Eluveitie also boast violin, bagpipe and, er-hem…hurdy-gurdy players. Glanzmann, arguably the mastermind of the bunch, plays mandola (different from the mandolin), tin whistle, acoustic guitar, Bodhrán and Uillean pipes, in addition to his vocal duties.

The band signed to popular European metal label Nuclear Blast in 2007, releasing their second album Slania shortly in February 2008. This May, Eluveitie released their third album, Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion – an entirely acoustic effort that focused on ancient Gaulish texts and mythology. This time around, hurdy-gurdist Anna Murphy, the youngest member in the group at 19, handled most of the vocals instead of Glanzmann. A follow-up album, tentatively titled Evocation II: Visions is expected within the next year.

For now, here’s the promotional video for the band’s popular song “Inis Mona,” from Slania. It’s sure to make you, you know…take up your swords and all that.

–Dan Kaplan, Front-of-Book Editor

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