By Bona Pjarren
A return to fantasy: Elvenking continue their epic quest… forging a potent magic stronger than ever by evoking the essence of heavy metal, pagan metal, folk and melodic death metal, Elvenking set sail to horizons more distant than ever before, boldly taking the world by storm with their quintessentially unique approach to heavy, powerful music.
So goes the blurb from the label, but what’s the album actually like?
‘Rapture’ has an interesting intro before it launches into some classic melodic metal. There are plenty of folk themes running through the composition. ‘The Hanging Tree’ storms in with loads of attitude. Tight riffs powered by double pedal drums and a strong folk melody to boot. It has plenty of hooks and changes through the gears effortlessly.
‘Bride of Night’ has striking guitar work and is perhaps more melodic metal with a touch of death briefly in the vocal. The folk elements are ever present. ‘Herdchant’ has a great lolloping beat with a reel type music. It certainly feels like a chant. There are death metal sections as well as a nice breakdown.
‘The Cursed Cavalier’ with its big classic rock intro gallops along in a pleasing enough way. It doesn’t really break any new ground but is a descent enough track. Accomplished lead guitar break and classic vocals. ‘To The North’ is a great little track with the guitar emulating bagpipes fairly convincingly. There are also some nice extreme vocals. The drums provide a driving onslaught interspersed with some well placed breakdowns.
‘Covenant’ has an interesting intro but soon launches into a dark creepy riff. Its an okay song but not really my taste. Some good ideas but a bit predictable. ‘Red Mist’ starts in a ballad style with a strong tribal type drum beat. It then launches into a full blooded folk metal track. ‘Incantations’ has strong folk metal elements to it and all of the songs so far have a definite formula in their writing styles.
‘An Autumn Reverie’ has a string intro which is a nice change of pace. But it is soon back to driving classic metal styling with folk elements. ‘The Repentant’ is the final song on the album and again revisits musical themes developed throughout the album so far. ‘The Repentant’ is perhaps the most ordinary track so far. Its a descent enough song but just to similar to what has gone before.
In conclusion, ‘Reader of the Runes’ is a decent enough album while in no way being groundbreaking. I liked the constant folk metal themes evident on all the tracks. I have always thought that Elvenking are not a recording band in that their music always seems a bit flat in comparison to their live sound – and, trust me, they are phenomenal live. Don’t let that put you off this album though, as it is worth a listen \m/
- ‘Reader Of The Runes – Rapture‘ is released on Friday 28 April.
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