Elvenking makes Italian dreams come true...

[Palabra de Dios]

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=186193

I know this is just a blabbermouth repost, but shit this rules. Apparently Elvenking had a concert and played a set of their stuff then had Martin fucking Walkyier on stage to do a set of Skyclad tunes. Amazing. Setlist is as follows, and there are Youtube links within my link.

01. Intro
02. Declaration Of Indifference
03. Civil War Dance
04. Vintage Whine
05. Polkageist
06. Thinking Allowed?
07. Penny Dreadful
08. Earth Mother, The Sun And The Furious Host
09. Think Back And Lie Of England
10. Spinning Jenny

God I wish I could see this.

 

[orcslayr23]

I wish Elvenking would tour the states. They were one of the first metal bands I ever got into and I still love them 7 years later (although their latest album was only OK).

 

[TychoCelchu]

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=186193

I know this is just a blabbermouth repost, but shit this rules. Apparently Elvenking had a concert and played a set of their stuff then had Martin fucking Walkyier on stage to do a set of Skyclad tunes. Amazing. Setlist is as follows, and there are Youtube links within my link.

01. Intro
02. Declaration Of Indifference
03. Civil War Dance
04. Vintage Whine
05. Polkageist
06. Thinking Allowed?
07. Penny Dreadful
08. Earth Mother, The Sun And The Furious Host
09. Think Back And Lie Of England
10. Spinning Jenny

God I wish I could see this.

I would've needed a change of underwear between every song had I been at this

 

[nailz]

This is far from the first time Martin has been on stage with them, nor the first time they've covered Skyclad songs, but pretty sure it's the first time they did so many. This was also done in Russia, not Italy.

(although their latest album was only OK).

Elvenking has been very hit and miss for me. (weird for me to say that, isn't it?) To Oakwoods Bestowed was amazing, Heathenreel was mindblowingly good (and very unpolished), WYRD was a piece of garbage, Winter Wake was probably the pinnacle of their musical career, The Scythe was, you know, OK. TTP was great, but it didn't feel like an "official" album. Red Silent Tides was just as bad as WYRD, and ERA has once again changed my mind back to Elvenking being on the right track.

 

[Palabra de Dios]

I don't find WYRD to be garbage, actually. Definitely miss Damnagoras' voice, but there are some solid folk tunes on it.

I still go back to Heathenreel. That album stole my heart and it will remain my favorite of theirs I think. And it might be the unpolished-ness that endears me to it.

 

[nailz]

I've never really tried to hide my disdain for that album, and I know Aydan specifically has said several times that the entire process for creating WYRD was miserable because of tensions in the band with Damna's exit. I think it translated, and I've never really liked it.

 

[Cheiron]

Wyrd is the best thing they ever did musically.

Winter Wake was the last time they put out a great album. Scythe was okay, but I haven't listened to it in a long time, so I can't really comment. The last 2 albums are garbage. This is partly because when Damnagoras returned, they lost their best song writer and by far their best guitar player (Jarpen). So they seemed to lose any ability to play complex songs. That or they lost interest, and hoped to appeal to 13 year old girls. I'm not sure which/

But Elvenking is a completely different band now, and its a real shame. They were so good up through Winter Wake.

 

[orcslayr23]

Elvenking has been very hit and miss for me. (weird for me to say that, isn't it?) To Oakwoods Bestowed was amazing, Heathenreel was mindblowingly good (and very unpolished), WYRD was a piece of garbage, Winter Wake was probably the pinnacle of their musical career, The Scythe was, you know, OK. TTP was great, but it didn't feel like an "official" album. Red Silent Tides was just as bad as WYRD, and ERA has once again changed my mind back to Elvenking being on the right track.

Yeah you're definitely all over the place haha. To each his own. It's VERY hard for me to put their albums in order, but Era was the only one of their albums that I would say (on the whole) I didn't like.

Heathenreel/To Oakwoods Bestowed
The Scythe
The Winter Wake
Red Silent Tides
Two Tragedy Poets
Era
Wyrd

I'll try to sum up my rankings pretty quickly because I could go on at length about EK:

I do love the unpolished aspects of Heathenreel/TOWB. The Scythe, idk why it was universally panned, was amazing. I love when bands' explore their darker side (Poetry for the Poisoned is probably my favorite Kamelot album), plus I think they took more risks and did a lot of experimenting (2 8-minute songs!!) My only gripe is I would've liked to have heard a bit more screaming, but all of the songs stand on their own really well. The Winter Wake is of course a great album. I don't dislike any of the songs off it, but when I want to hear EK this isn't the first album I reach for. RST definitely plays more out like a "commercial" or "alt" album, but I think a lot of their classic elements were strong on this one. TTP has some amazing songs and is a great experiment, but I think a lot of the songs don't really stand on their own two feet too well. Era, where do I begin? I just feel like musically a lot of it is really bland, and I can't get behind Damna's classic rock ripoff vocal style that he adapted on this album. Including the ltd edition bonus track i'd say there are only 5 songs on this album I really like. I only put Era ahead of Wyrd, because well, I have to be in a specific mood for this one because of the different vocalist, who has a crazy accent and isn't a great singer, plus the album, while its pretty good, isn't very well rounded.

 

[nomisofsiman]

I never listened to their acoustic album, but the only discs of theirs I don't like is Era. I'm actually surprised that their last album got as beat up as it did as it's much better. Hell, Elvenking is the band that pushed me over the edge to attend my first Progpower.

 

[orcslayr23]

I never listened to their acoustic album, but the only discs of theirs I don't like is Era. I'm actually surprised that their last album got as beat up as it did as it's much better. Hell, Elvenking is the band that pushed me over the edge to attend my first Progpower.

SO JEALOUS! I wanted to see EK at progpower so bad, but I was a poor college student then...

Yeah idk why RST got such bad reviews and everyone is shitting themselves over Era. Idk I love that Elvenking hasn't made the same album twice so there's bound to be polarization.

 

[Bryan316]

Fuckin HATED Heathenreel.

Fuckin LOVE The Winter Wake.

Was in a music store in Chicago, the weekend the Chicago Powerfest had Biomechanical and Nocturnal Rites. They had The Winter Wake playing over the house. I did not believe it was the same band, as the downloaded copy of Heathenreel (which, I have since been convinced WASN'T Heathenreel at all and probably Wyrd) made me immediately not like Elvenking, simply from a production quality aspect. But here I was in that store, thinking this shit was amazing! Bought it there, regretted ever doubting them.

The Scythe is a good album. Two Tragic Poets is now one of my favorites, because of their re-recordings of The Winter Wake and the Wanderer which I now prefer hearing instead. Red Silent Tides was a very average album in regards to songwriting, and the guitar tone was WIMPY AS MY LITTLE PONY compared to their usual heavier-than-your-speakers-can-reproduce chunktastic guitars. Era is a perfect blend of their heavy, their folk, and their great songwriting, AND has a Trans-Siberian Orchestra song in disguise, heh heh.


Knowing I prolly didn't have the actual Heathenreel album, Ima go find one of the Youtube playlists and see if I can have my opinion of that album reversed.

But if Wyrd sounds as bad as I remember it...

 

[TychoCelchu]

I like Wyrd a lot myself.

 

[nailz]

Hell, Elvenking is the band that pushed me over the edge to attend my first Progpower.

You're welcome.

And while I would have liked them to be announced a year earlier, so we could have had them on their TWW tour cycle, I will be just as happy to have had them here during the Scythe. And I won't say I wouldn't be happy to see them now, but they would be less of a draw for me.

t Elvenking is a completely different band now, and its a real shame.

I agree, they're definitely not the same. A shame? Meh. As I find myself (re) gravitating towards more of a hard rock mindset most of the time, I'm kind of glad they're moving in that direction. If anyone keeps tabs on Damna's doings, you could have seen the writing on the wall when he joined up with Hell in The Club. This is probably why I enjoy Era.

The Scythe, idk why it was universally panned, was amazing. ... Yeah idk why RST got such bad reviews

Because it [The Scythe] was a massive upheaval of their style, which at the time was not only pretty unique, but also the exact reason they'd garnered so many fans at that point. They'd gone from a great folk band to a good band with folk elements. Red Silent Tides was their attempt to ... I don't even know, right the ship? The CD was boring and forgettable. Like WYRD, it was forced. And then Zender and Gorlan left the band (shocking, band members leaving after a terrible album), and then we got Era.

Elvenking is one of those bands that needs everyone firing on all cylinders to make good music.

downloaded copy of Heathenreel (which, I have since been convinced WASN'T Heathenreel at all and probably Wyrd) .... simply from a production quality aspect.

No, you probably got Heathenreel. It's production was a disaster. It sounded terrible. And that's why so many of us loved it. It was raw, it was real, and it was incredibly unique.

 

[Palabra de Dios]

I think you're saying its production is a disaster from a "polished power metal" perspective. I think it's perfect the way it is and would not want to hear it "remixed" or "remastered".

 

[nailz]

I'm saying it's like the production of Tuatha De Danann's album Tingaralatingadun. It sounds fucking terrible and that's one of the reasons it's so good.