Eluveitie – Slania
Nuclear Blast – NB 2079-2 – 11 Mar 2008
By Ryan Starr
I have to admit, I am new to
Eluveitie. My first experience with them was on the Pagan Fest MySpace page. They were the only band I didn’t know, so I promptly did some research. Not only was I impressed, I was stunned that something of such a high quality was not on my radar. Needless to say, when I heard
Slania was coming out, I had to get my hands on a copy. I was not disappointed.
Slania is a masterful blend of Celtic music and melodic death metal.
Eluveitie blend the two styles perfectly, not allowing one style to over shadow the other. There are some guitar focused songs, like
‘Bloodstained Ground’ which features some awesome riffing, and there are songs that really let the folk instruments shine, to include the breathtaking instrumental
‘Anagantios’.
But if there is one thing that strikes me the most, it’s the fact that
Eluveitie are taking folk metal in a different direction. The genre is expanding and crossing into new territory, and that is probably the most important thing about
Eluveitie. If we had nothing but
Finntroll and
Korpiklaani imitators, the genre would die off. Stylistic differences are key to the survival of the genre, and
Eluveitie is just different enough to keep the scene fresh.
Official Eluveitie Website
Official Nuclear Blast Website
