E-an-na - Jiana [EP]

Înşivă is the first song of the ep and right from the get-go it starts freakin beautiful. The intro is purely mesmerizing and, in a very small way, it made me think at the awesome intro from Lai Lai Hei but way more beautiful and more complex. Then here come the drums. So powerful and so clear. Actually the whole ep is perfectly mastered and the instruments can be heard very clear. Back to the song now. Andrei's voice is flawless here and on the rest of the songs as well, the guitars are..fucking wow-ish and the melodic line is very catchy but not in a radio friendly way which is perfect. If I would have to choose a favorite song from the ep, I would choose this one for two reasons: One being the amazing intro (one of my favorite intros ever) and second because of the guitars. Ovidiu, Alex and Dragos are amazing in handling those guitars (not only on this song of course). As for Paul..well..hats off this guy. Amazing drummer Hora pe Furate - Well this is the Cinderella of the ep, because, it is clearly different from the rest of the songs. It has a very fast rhythm and..very cheerful song (even if the lyrics aren't that cheerful). In my opinion this song is a must be in the setlists at their concerts because of the fast rhythm and it is an amazing occasion for the crowd that attend their concerts to just go wild. Jiana (EP version) - It is a little different from the older version and I love that they did a new version because it is more complete. The first version sounds awesome as well but is more..raw to put it this way. This ep version is more melodic and damn the bagpipes, accordion are amazing.I have to give lots of credits to Andrei Oltean because he not only does the vocals but also he does the whistles, accordion, bagpipes which I find very admirable. But every member of the band has their role + the amazing violin player Roxana who is a special guest on this album. Sivoi - I will post the description of the song from the band first then I will write some thoughts. "This is the darkest song of ?Jiana". It is a portrait of the end of the world as we know it, a song of pain and despair. All is dead and long forgotten. The wind dances naked above the bodies. The earth itself is bleeding. In spite of this despair, the listener is still urged to dance, to rejoice, for ?at the end we shall see that from the deepest pit you can only ascend". In the end, there is hope to ascend in a new, better world, namely E-an-na." As weird at is may sound, I don't find this song dark at all. Yes, it has some sadness in it, but, put it this way, I think during live interpretation of this song I will headbang the fuck out of it. But what is very epic about this song is the whistle solo from Andrei. That gave me cold and awesome chills. And it has something sad and dark in it. Anyway, overall, the song is very enjoyable and danceable. Codru - the last song of the ep, one of the most expected by many fans and also the longest song. It has a sad almost depressive intro but it shifts a bit (damn..so many instruments to count). I have mixed feelings about this song. It is that type of song which one day you love the next you hate (depends on what mood you have). But I heard it live and live is impossible not to jump and headbang and all the rest. I would go this far and say that Codru is a way better song when heard live than in studio.

Written by flammeimwind333 on 01.10.2016 at 14:48


Actually the whole ep is perfectly mastered and the instruments can be heard very clear.

Actually, I came to know about Jiana ep while I was editing E-an-na page. Since then, it's on the rotation and sounds fucking amazing. Very unique, awesome mixing and virtuous production which missed in earlier singles/demo. I came to know about E-an-na from Eluveitie who shared some news regarding E-an-na's new untitled ep on facebook, redirected to their official page and saw they're Romanian folk metal group. Considering the fact that not many good folk metal band comes from Romania which inclined me to go over and check out few singles. To be very honest, it didn't appeal me as much as this Ep did 'cause this sounds completely different and unique.

Quote:
the amazing violin player Roxana who is a special guest on this album

Yeah, very impressive I'd say. Actually, the poor implementation of violin by recent folk metal bands is renouncing me to check out current trend of folk metal scene.

Quote:
Jiana (EP version) - It is a little different from the older version and I love that they did a new version because it is more complete. The first version sounds awesome as well but is more..raw to put it this way.

This is new to me.

Which older version you talking about? The one of "single"?

If it is, i didn't see any difference here. Both sounds raw, complete, textural, heavy and atmospheric folk metal tunes.

Written by Cynic Metalhead on 01.10.2016 at 21:24


Considering the fact that not many good folk metal band comes from Romania

Actually folk metal is one of the most popular genres in Romania, along with black metal, metalcore and thrash metal. I could name 10 folk metal bands from Romania just on the top of my head. Something which is harder to do with say blackgaze, grindcore, death metal, stoner metal, post-metal and so on.

Written by RaduP on 02.10.2016 at 17:09

Written by Cynic Metalhead on 01.10.2016 at 21:24


Considering the fact that not many good folk metal band comes from Romania.

I could name 10 folk metal bands from Romania just on the top of my head.

That's not important as long as they're good enough.

On MS - Negura and Bucovina,
Outside MS - Marțolea(touches fences of black metal), Fogland and WarChant(aggressive fusion of black with folk).

To my surprise, I found Romania black metal scene to be fascinating, very challenging towards incorporating elements to bring unique flavors like "Fogland" does and very fucking straightforward in creating melody with black metal and fusing folk parts in.

But, nothing to be majorly impressive found in pure folk metal groups.

Just a curiosity. You guys hear the keyboards on this ep? Because I don't

Written by flammeimwind333 on 05.10.2016 at 12:31

Just a curiosity. You guys hear the keyboards on this ep? Because I don't

In "Şivoi" and "Hora Pe Furate".

Not much, just a section of keyboards while majority of time bagpipes and flutes has higher volume.

"Înşivă", "Jiana" and "Şivoi" are great, although the rest of the EP is not that good. I am waiting for the first album of this band!

Folk metal aoty 2016. Very closely followed by new Skálmöld.

I think it couldn't get better than these two terrific and brilliant folk releases.

Still stands as one of the best E-an-na releases ever.