Eluveitie
Slania

October 2008
Released: Febr, Nuclear Blast Records
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: Robert Williams

Eluveitie returns with their second full length and first offering for Nuclear Blast with “Slania.” The band is marketed as being of the folkish, melodic death metal variety and though I do hear many folkish passages in the metal, I do not hear any death metal. My best description of this band’s music would have to be Anders Friden from In Flames joining forces with In Extremo to create a union of folk meets the Gothenburg sound.



“Slania” showcases an array of fiddles, bagpipes, whistles and whatever a hurdy gurdy might be, alongside the standard guitar, bass, drums and vocals you’d expect in a melodic metal outfit. We get female vocals, male vocals, clean vocals, and Gothenburg vocals. So this really is a mish mash of several different things meshed together under the kind of slick production you can count on with all Nuclear Blast releases. The commercial appeal to this brand of metal is multi faceted and I could see this band doing well with fans of In Flames, At The Gates and Soilwork just as much as I could see it doing well with revelers at a Renaissance Fair. Viking metal fans should dig it as Eluveitie just wrapped up a successful Stateside jaunt as part of Paganfest along with Ensiferum, Tyr and Turisas.



I was able to enjoy this album for what it was worth, if uptempo metal with fiddles and bagpipes send you into orbit, you might rate this album higher than I did as the band is obviously really talented at their craft.