Released By: Nuclear Blast Records
Release Date: April 25th, 2025
Genre: Celtic Folk/Melodic Death Metal
Links: https://eluveitie.ch/
Line Up:
Chrigel Glanzmann – Vocals, Acoustic Guitars, Mandolin, Tin & Low Whistles, Uilleann Pipes, Harp, Gaita, Bodhràn
Fabienne Erni – Vocals, Harp, Mandola
Jonas Wolf – Rhythm Guitars
Rafael Salzmann – Lead Guitars
Kay Brem – Bass
Alain Ackermann – Drums, Percussion
Lea-Sophie Fischer – Violin, Hurdy Gurdy
Matteo Sisti – Acoustic Guitars Tin & Low Whistles, Bagpipes, Mandola, Uilleann pipes, Bodhrán,, Hurdy Gurdy
Tracklist:
1. Emerge
2. TTaranoias
3. The Prodigal Ones
4. Ànv
5. Premonition
6. Awen
7. Anamcara
8. The Harvest
9. Memories of Innocence
10. All is One
11. Aeon of the Crescent Moon
12. The Prophecy
It’s been a long wait for fans of Swiss folk/MDM band Eluveitie, who made a strong start to their new era back in 2019, with Ategnatos, their first metal album with new vocalist Fabienne Erni, who made her debut in 2017 with the acoustic Evocation II. They went quiet for a while after that, released a couple of standalone singles in 2022, and then went quiet again, before finally announcing their ninth full length album, Ànv, in early 2025. It’s been the longest wait for a new album from the band, but thankfully, the album is finally set to release later this week, and it easily lives up to the hype!
Unsurprisingly, with such a long gap between albums, the band has gone through some lineup changes, mostly involving folk musicians leaving and being replaced by new members. Despite this, the overall sound of the album is very similar to Ategnatos, once again offering listeners a nice blend of both the more brutal, MDM side of their music, as well as the lighter, more melodic folk side. A couple tracks here are some of the softest tracks they’ve done outside of the two acoustic albums, with “All Is One” in particular being an absolutely beautiful folk ballad, with barely any metal elements and no growls whatsoever. On the flipside, there’s still plenty of heavier material, with deep cut “The Harvest” being absolutely relentless in unleashing chaotic MDM upon the listener. As usual, there’s also plenty of tracks mixing the two sides of the band together, with the verses often heavy and dominated by Chrigel Glanzmann’s harsh vocals, while Fabienne Erni takes over for a light, catchy chorus. It’s the band’s shortest album to date, with 12 tracks, clocking in at under 42 minutes, and it features three interlude tracks, as well as an intro. This works out nicely, as it allows all the full length songs to stand out, and they’re each memorable in their own way, while still having a cohesive sound and feel.
Performances are fantastic all around, with some of the guitar work being quite brutal and intense, including a couple of epic breakdowns, and there’s also some nice, technically impressive guitar solos, and some more melodic guitar work. Drums can be quite explosive and intense, but also more laidback at times, and there’s also various types of percussion, which are used nicely. Folk instruments are as present as ever, with all tracks having some beautiful folk melodies, even on the heavier tracks, while the various interludes and lighter tracks are obviously dominated by folk elements, and the band has very much mastered this side of their music. Vocals are excellent as always, with Chrigel Glanzmann’s harsh vocals being as dark, intense and menacing as ever, while Fabienne Erni’s clean vocals are much lighter, and often quite beautiful, though she does add in some power and intensity at times. At this point, she’s already proven herself to be a perfect fit for the band, and she sounds absolutely fantastic on this album. Production is also great, with everything being clear in the mix, and for an album with a lot going on musically, it all comes together perfectly.
As usual, there’s a brief intro track, “Emerge“, which starts off softly, before some atmospheric sounding guitars show up, slowly building up momentum, and then the folk elements are out in full effect towards the end, leading into the explosive opening track, “Taranoias“. This is the shortest full length song on the album, and it’s also fairly straight-forward and a ton of fun. It starts off with a nice mix of folk elements, heavy guitars and frantic drumming, which carries over into the opening verse, which offers up some rapid fire, explosive MDM, where Glanzmann leads the way with his growls. The chorus slows things down and is much softer, allowing Erni to take over, with some light, yet powerful clean vocals. The second verse only dials up the intensity further, with more explosive drums and guitars, leading into a brief folk instrumental section, and then a short breakdown, before Erni takes over to end the track. It’s an excellent track overall, and a very solid indication of what to expect from the album, mixing the band’s folk and death metal elements together fluidly.
Next is second single “The Prodigal Ones“, which has some very thick riffs early on, as well as some of Glanzmann’s most intense vocals, leading into a fun, folk-infused chorus, with a bit of a pop feel, in that it’s very upbeat, fun, catchy and reliant on clean vocals, though there are some brief growls thrown in here and there. It’s a very fun track overall, not quite as intense as the opener, and a bit slower paced, but it still does a great job of showcasing the band’s overall sound, and both vocalists get to shine. There’s a very brief guitar solo near the end, followed up by a super intense, metalcore style breakdown, which is actually quite awesome. The title track “Ànv” is one of the interludes, and it’s a very beautiful track, with fairly minimal instrumentation, instead largely carried by Erni, who provides some absolutely gorgeous chanting vocals.
The first single, released well in advance of the album, was “The Premonition“. It’s another explosive track, with a very classic MDM feel to it, especially some of the guitar work in the verses, which are again sung entirely by Glanzmann. He also leads the way through the chorus, which is heavy and intense, yet also very catchy, and it has a very smooth, addictive rhythm, to help make it even catchier. After the second run, Erni adds in a very nice bridge, with some fantastic vocal melodies, and then there’s an excellent solo section opening up with some folk instruments and then climaxing with an intense, highly technical guitar solo. The first softer full length track is “Awen“, a very folk-infused track, led entirely by Erni, who sings both the verses and chorus. It’s an excellent showcase for her voice, with the chorus in particular having some fantastic vocal melodies. It’s a very melodic track, largely dominated by folk melodies, though there is a slight infusion of light, alt metal style guitar work in the verses, and an instrumental section towards the end. It’s another fun, catchy track, and the chorus is one of my favorites on the album. Next is another interlude, “Anamcara“, largely led by some nice acoustic guitar work and folk instrumentation. It’s probably the least memorable interlude here, but it’s still quite enjoyable, adding in some nice narration in the middle and soft backing vocals in the second half.
The most brutal, death metal-infused track on the album is “The Harvest“, which explodes right out of the gate with some fast and furious riffs, as well as some very powerful growls from Glanzmann. There’s a brief instrumental section in the middle, with some nice folk melodies, as well as some slightly softer vocals from Glanzmann at one point, but for the most part it’s a relentless MDM assault, from start to finish, and fans of the heavier side of the band are sure to love it. Perhaps the most memorable interlude track is “Memories of Innocence“, a track entirely carried by folk instrumentation. It starts off soft and calm, but after a while the pace picks up, and soon it starts feeling like a typical Eluveitie track, with an intense rhythm and a relentless pace, except without any metal instruments. It has a very catchy main melody, and some excellent folk musicianship throughout, as well as some very nice, super catchy percussion. The softest full length track is “All is One“, an absolutely beautiful folk ballad, led by some wonderful folk instrumentation and some absolutely stunning melodies. Erni takes lead throughout, starting off softly on the opening verse, slowly building up power and intensity throughout, before going all out towards the end. The chorus is absolutely beautiful, and serves as a perfect showcase for her voice.
After a couple of softer tracks, the intensity picks up again with “Aeon of the Crescent Moon“, another more MDM-based track. It moves at more of a moderate tempo, starting off fairly calmly, before some heavy riffs kick in after a while, and then it speeds up a little bit going into the first verse, without ever going all out. The verses move at more of a galloping pace, with some heavy riffs and intense growls, while the chorus is slower paced and more atmospheric, led by Glanzmann, though Erni does provide some nice backing vocals. The highlight of the track is a fast-paced folk infused instrumental section towards the end, which is explosive, yet also quite beautiful. Closing out the album is “The Prophecy“, which despite being the longest track, clocking in at over 5 minutes, feels more like an outro than a proper song. It starts off with light instrumentation and narration, before settling into a nice rhythm, with a slight doom metal feel. It’s a very atmospheric track, with dark, subtly heavy guitar work and even the folk instruments have a darker feel than usual. Glanzmann delivers some growls throughout the middle portion, while Erni does have light chanting vocals towards the end. It’s a very atmospheric track, which closes out the album nicely.
At this point in their career, fans should know what to expect from Eluveitie, and they’ve once again delivered more of that with Ànv. It’s the band’s shortest, most concise album to date, while still offering the same blend of intense MDM and light, melodic Celtic folk fans of the band have come to expect. Chrigel Glanzmann is still in top form, delivering his signature dark, menacing growls, while Fabienne Erni has proven to be a perfect fit for the lighter side of the band’s music, and they work together very well. On the whole, the album somewhat feels like a shorter version of Ategnatos, once again featuring a mix of tracks highlighting each side of the band’s music, as well as some which mix the two together fluidly, and then there’s some very nice interlude tracks. It’s been a long wait, but it was certainly well worth it!
Ratings: 9/10
Written by: Travis Green
My Global Mind – Staff Writer
Travis Green is a Canadian based writer for My Global Mind, with a particular passion for power metal, as well as an interest metal in all its forms.
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