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Eluveitie - Evocation I - The Arcane Dominion review



Reviewer:
7.5

428 users:
7.49
Band: Eluveitie
Album: Evocation I - The Arcane Dominion
Release date: April 2009


01. Sacrapos - At First Glance [feat. A.A. Nemtheanga]
02. Brictom
03. A Girls Oath
04. The Arcane Dominion [feat. Oli S. Tyr]
05. Within The Grove [feat. Fredy Schnyder & Mina The Fiddler]
06. The Cauldron Of Renascence
07. Nata [feat. A.A. Nemtheanga]
08. Omnos
09. Carnutian Forest
10. Dessumiis Luge
11. Gobanno [feat. Sarah Wauquiez, Fredy Schnyder & Mina The Fiddler]
12. Voveso In Mori
13. Memento
14. Ne Regv Na
15. Sacrapos - The Disparaging Last Gaze
16. Slania [Folk Medley version] [Limited Edition bonus]
17. Omnos [Early Metal version] [Limited Edition bonus]

So here it is, the long anticipated acoustic album of these Swiss folk metallers who had been enjoying a well-deserved success with their last effort Slania. This new album is quite different from other releases of the band. It is the first part of a 2-piece effort, with Evocations II - Visions, set to come out later this year. They decided to make this an entirely acoustic folk album that includes no metal elements at all, so it should be invaluable to all the folk fans out there who don't like death metal elements, right? Well let's see if it lives up to the expectations.

Personally I had quite high expectations on this release, seeing all the guest musicians list and all and being a fan of acoustic AND folk music. But well, I gotta say it disappointed me a little. First of all, Alan Nemtheanga of Primordial contributes to two songs with his voice, but those who expect his epic vocals (that would be me) will be disappointed. In one of them he just reads a text and the other one is just an ordinary performance. Talking about texts, one other problem is all these "transition" songs. There are some songs on the album that don't have any real melody and are just connecting one other song to another, or include parts sung/read in ancient Gaelic. Since I am not an expert on the Gaelic language, I don't understand anything and in the end these transitions just make me bored and want to skip them, instead of drawing me into the atmosphere of the album like they had been intended to do.

These are the downsides of the album. Oh wait, there's one more: Chrigel Glanzmann's annoying "clean" singing. He should just growl and leave everything else to Alan Nemtheanga or Anna Murphy. Anna, who normally plays hurdy gurdy and performs backing vocals, is the main singer on this album. She has a nice voice which usually fits perfectly to songs, although in these "transition" songs, she too, can't save them from being boring.

So the reason why this album deserves a 7.5? Well it's just these damn awesome folk melodies that one can't resist. "Omnos" has one of the catchiest melodies I've heard recently, although the chorus is kinda pop-like and cheesy (and I don't even wanna talk about the video that's been shot for it, it's like a Turkish crappy pop music video), which makes me feel embarrassed that I like it so much, heh. Damn these folk instruments and the godly melodies. The other songs which stand out are, "Brictom", "Carnutian Forest", "The Cauldron of Renascence", "Gobanno" and "Memento". If you are even slightly into folk metal, these are the songs that you should NOT miss on this album, even if you don't hear the rest. Just give these a chance, I'm sure they won't disappoint you.

In the end, I believe it is a good album, although not quite reaching my expectations. It's not an album to listen to from beginning to the end, but there are some songs that stand out and they make the album quite enjoyable. It's the band's first experiment of something like this, a totally acoustic folk album, that being considered it's not bad. However, it's also nowhere near amazing acoustic folk albums like Urminnes Hävd from Månegarm (Especially this album is a MUST have if you're looking for an acoustic folk album to take you back in time and into Nordic lands) and Swordsong from Skyforger. Maybe they should listen to these albums carefully before their next try.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 8
Songwriting: 7
Originality: 8
Production: 8

Written by flamey | 29.07.2009




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.


Comments

Comments: 14   Visited by: 194 users
29.07.2009 - 20:53
Rating: 8
Zmaj Ognjeni Vuk
To Mega Therion
Hehe, I feel the same way for Omnos. It's Eurovision material.
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Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one, and they all stink.
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31.07.2009 - 03:43
Rating: 7
MétalNoir
Fils du Lys
I hate you, I had prepared a review for this album a week or so following its release and I had been waiting the "7 weeks delay"... But we almost say the sae things and your English is better than mine, so I'll forgive ya!
Only thing I would add to your (very good) review is the fact that there actually were songs on Spirit that sounded pretty much like Cauldron of Renascence and a few other tracks on Evocations.
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Notre destinée n'est pas encore tracée....
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01.08.2009 - 23:28
Rating: 7
flamey

Written by MétalNoir on 31.07.2009 at 03:43

I hate you, I had prepared a review for this album a week or so following its release and I had been waiting the "7 weeks delay"... But we almost say the sae things and your English is better than mine, so I'll forgive ya!
Only thing I would add to your (very good) review is the fact that there actually were songs on Spirit that sounded pretty much like Cauldron of Renascence and a few other tracks on Evocations.


Hehe, thanks man, glad you liked the review. I had also written this sometime ago and had to wait till the album wasn't "fresh" anymore, and when I saw that there was still no review about it, I decided to post it

Yep, there were some songs like Aidu, Samon, Giamonios, Anagantios etc. that sounds like the songs on Evocations, and they all kick ass
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02.08.2009 - 08:01
xclaw

Couldn't agree more with your review. I want to hate this album but the melodies just to great, to easy to have stuck in your head.
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06.08.2009 - 16:46
Rating: 7
Classic Bob G

I'm actually a huge fan of Celtic folk music, and I found this album to be a little boring. Like you said there were a few songs that were just catchy as hell (I find myself humming Omnos from time to time) but honestly the best song on the album was the metal version of Omnos that came with the limited edition release.

I'm hoping that part two has more catchiness and atmosphere, and not just more of the same thing.

Nice review! I couldn't have said it better myself.
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07.08.2009 - 02:43
Rating: 5
Janne
Hugin
Nice review! Maybe I'll listen to this album in a different way after reading this
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age]


-FOLK METAL HUNGARY-
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13.08.2009 - 03:21
Rating: 6
Dark Cornatus
Powerslave
Ive listened to the first 8 tracks so far, having already heard Omnos previously.
I didnt quite get into it as i hoped, i cant stress how much i hate these concept albums with interludes and transition songs, it is cliche and downright rediculous! What purpose does it serve? They are always skippable, so why cant bands leave them out.
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19.09.2009 - 01:21
Rating: 10
Dominus
The Shooter
I cannot stop to listen to it!
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29.09.2009 - 09:30
Rating: 9
Jason W.
Razorbliss
Strange, I don't feel that there are useless interludes in the album, as really there are only a few songs with no vocals at all. It has taken me several months to be in the right frame of mind to listen to this disc properly, but as it has come to me, it's my favorite by the band now. I was thrilled to not have to listen to sickeningly generic Gothenburg melodies, and Anna's vocals are intimate and classy. Her pronounciation and accent with some of the Gaulish words is just addicting In a way, I wish the language was still around, it's more interesting than some of the modern ones

"Dessumiis Luge" is my favorite track on the disc, as it's very offbeat and strange, and doesn't sound like much out there. I understand your point of view with your review, and would also have liked to here a more epic vocal performance by Alan of Primordial, but in the end I guess I've found more interesting moments than you have here!
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"After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." - Aldous Huxley
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29.09.2009 - 17:44
Rating: 7
flamey

Written by Jason W. on 29.09.2009 at 09:30

Strange, I don't feel that there are useless interludes in the album, as really there are only a few songs with no vocals at all. It has taken me several months to be in the right frame of mind to listen to this disc properly, but as it has come to me, it's my favorite by the band now. I was thrilled to not have to listen to sickeningly generic Gothenburg melodies, and Anna's vocals are intimate and classy. Her pronounciation and accent with some of the Gaulish words is just addicting In a way, I wish the language was still around, it's more interesting than some of the modern ones

"Dessumiis Luge" is my favorite track on the disc, as it's very offbeat and strange, and doesn't sound like much out there. I understand your point of view with your review, and would also have liked to here a more epic vocal performance by Alan of Primordial, but in the end I guess I've found more interesting moments than you have here!


Thanks for the feedback mate! Actually I agree with you about "not having to hear generic Gothenburg melodies". I mean I love Gothenburg sound but when folk metal bands in general try to do it, they just... use the most generic and uninspired riffs ever. So I love it more when the folk side of the music plays a heavier role. That's why I had really high expectations for this one and got a tad disappointed

But hey, I'm still listening to this album a lot, Omnos and Brictom are amazing! As you said Anna's vocals and its mix with Gaelic is just... hot
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29.09.2009 - 23:56
Ellrohir
Heaven Knight
This band is terribly overrated and so is this album by most of people i know...
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My rest seems now calm and deep
Finally I got my dead man sleep


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01.10.2009 - 22:05
Ernis
狼獾
It's not Gaelic they use in their songs....the band has NEVER sang anything in Gaelic....
The language is GAULISH (a Celtic language spoken in modern-day France, Italy and Switzerland during Roman Empire)...

Mistaking it for Gaelic is as if mistaking MONGOLIAN for Turkish....
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01.10.2009 - 22:14
Rating: 7
flamey

Written by Ernis on 01.10.2009 at 22:05

It's not Gaelic they use in their songs....the band has NEVER sang anything in Gaelic....
The language is GAULISH (a Celtic language spoken in modern-day France, Italy and Switzerland during Roman Empire)...

Mistaking it for Gaelic is as if mistaking MONGOLIAN for Turkish....


Thanks for pointing it out, you're right. I must have totally mixed them up.
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01.10.2009 - 22:35
Ernis
狼獾
Written by flamey on 01.10.2009 at 22:14

Written by Ernis on 01.10.2009 at 22:05

It's not Gaelic they use in their songs....the band has NEVER sang anything in Gaelic....
The language is GAULISH (a Celtic language spoken in modern-day France, Italy and Switzerland during Roman Empire)...

Mistaking it for Gaelic is as if mistaking MONGOLIAN for Turkish....


Thanks for pointing it out, you're right. I must have totally mixed them up.

No, it's nothing : )
Good review btw....I'm just planning to check the album out meself...
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