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Eluveitie > Origins > Reviews
Eluveitie - Origins

If it Ain't Broke... - 75%

doomknocker, October 27th, 2014
Written based on this version: 2014, CD, Nuclear Blast

At this point, we're all pretty well aware of this Swiss octet and their propensity for grand folksy melodeath as only they can provide, but if you ask me these dudes and dudettes are a good example of a band who seems to get better with each subsequent release. Recent years and albums have proven that they can continue to delve into the depths of musicality and unearth recorded works that tend to be more enjoyable than the one(s) preceding them, like a creative evolutionary ladder we can all bear witness to and partake in its many fruits. But you'd want to expect that, wouldn't you? I know I would.

With regard to "Origins", which honestly came out quicker than I'd though, things aren't entirely rewritten, and if anything an influx of symphonic elements amidst an increase of face time for the natural folk instrumentation over the guitars give the majority of the musical outputs more theatrical and dramatic in approach (the samples and narration segments also help in this regard). This is definitely a good thing as, despite how much I've enjoyed earlier albums, there was a bit too much distance between the down-to-earth feel and the modernization the electric instruments contained, a contrast of vibes that has recently found a better gelling. If any of that makes sense? The point I'm making is that Eluveitie is far gone from being a work in progress and is able to go with their definitive sound into recorded solidarity, even if the bulk of the album leaps from one extreme to the next. Much of the material present is among some of the band's most melodic and enveloping to date. It's not always blisteringly fast or heavy, but where it lacks in that it makes up for with depth and however you pick your poison, you'll still be able to walk away rather satisfied, whether it's the bestial, heavy tracks ("From Darkness", "Inception") or the tunic-clad atmospheric likes ("Celtos", "Virunus", "The Call of the Mountains").

The whole of the album flows from one track to the next with a bit of a rock opera appeal with a story to tell; it takes some reading, but it's in there somewhere, helping give a stylistically similar appeal on the musical level. Successive tracks segue into each other with a genuine sense of flow, helping the listener go from one end of the tale to the next without too many bumps in the road getting in the way outside of the occasional bout of familiarity in spite of how the whole of the work is still its own beast. Then again, how ultimately busy should one take the woodwind, hurdy-gurdy and fiddle arrangements without losing that seemingly patented vibe, yes? And we wouldn't want that. And yet, that's still a small argument to place against the group in the grand scheme of things given how much depth the rest of the music contains all its own. Let the little things pass, dammit, and enjoy the ride as you should.

At the end of the day "Origins" is quite an enjoyable little number that feels like a more complete work than albums passed, thereby being something to appreciate all its own. But that being said, if you aren't all that keen on their work chances are this probably won't convert you, but for those who are, let this properly augment your discography. Ye shan't be disappointed.

Like the old, but better than ever - 96%

Indecency, October 26th, 2014
Written based on this version: 2014, CD, Nuclear Blast

Eluveitie are right back it again, having never waited more than 2 years to release a new metal album. This new album doesn't stray far from the old material, so if you're looking for some new revolutionary change, well, go look for a new band. This is Eluveitie, their new album sounds like Eluveitie, and if you like Eluveitie, you will like Eluveitie.

The first thing noticeable on this album is the production job. Eluveitie, while having a clean, clear sounding production throughout most of their history, have has this annoying habit of making the recordings sound very thin. 2012's "Helvetios" cleaned up some of the production but it never managed to make it any thicker or heavier. While "Origins" is still quite a ways from perfect, it is the first production job that I find does not hinder the music whatsoever and that I could be happy with if they continued with it their entire career.

All of the typical folk instruments are back in this release, with a heavier influence on orchestral strings thanks to Nicole Ansperger, the new violinist. This record has the super folky fast whistle melodies as well as the slower, more epic/symphonic backing melodies.

One thing I noticed that Eluveitie has finally managed to perfect is their fast melodic death metal sections. Previously, for the most part, their folk instruments would take a seat while a faster melodic death riff was being played, and would only come back during choruses, breaks, bridges, intro, outros, and the like (or it would play some irrelevant melody overtop). You will now hear folk instruments not only during the fast parts, but often times being the main melody of their while the guitars are playing the rhythm as power chords, tremolo picking, or something else and the drums are blasting away. This is seen in tracks like 'From Darkness' or the end of 'Inception'. Other fast tracks on the record include 'The Silver Sister' and 'The Day of Strife' (which seems to be the only song from the album that the band hasn't played live).

Speaking of songs on the album, there are truly 14 of them including the intro and outro (the intermissions are just spoken word), and they're all quite well divided into fast paced, mid paced, and slow paced. 'The Call of the Mountains' is the new 'A Rose for Epona', and just like the latter, it's quite catchy. It's surprising that I would like it since I'm not much for the slow songs. This song is offered in English as well as the 4 official languages of Switzerland. 'Celtos' is another great slow song, offering an odd time signature and only partial English lyrics. As for midpace, they're nothing to write home about, but they're definitely not filler. 'The Nameless', 'Sucellos', 'King', and 'Carry the Torch' all fit the bill.

The drums on this album is what you would expect. Slow folky beats to the slow folky riffs, and thrash beats and blast beats during the faster melodic or tremolo picked parts. I found the drumming particularly exception on tracks 9 and 11. The guitars are some of the best yet they've ever been. Again, it's still a lot of what you would expect. The same goes for a lot of the folk instruments (which the previously aforementioned slight change in orchestral strings).

Overall, this is an Eluveitie album, and it's the best yet. If you really do like the band, and you don't have it in your head that the band must do something drastically different release to release, there's no reason why you shouldn't like this release. It has everything they've done in this past, only slightly refined and bundled into a 58 minute package. If you can catch them on their current Fall 2014 tour, I would as they're playing most of this album and the album is definitely worth it.

Welcome Back, Eluveitie - 76%

Ergonal, October 1st, 2014

Based upon some of their previous releases, I was not expecting too much from Eluveitie's new album. However, Origins surprised me as it managed to improve upon the critical areas which some of their earlier albums had lacked. It's not perfect, but the band is finally heading back into the right direction.

Following the phenomenal release of Spirit, each of Eluveitie's albums subsequently fell short of previous standards, offering only a handful of memorable songs in each one. Origins' first triumph is that each song has its own identity, and therefore, each one can be enjoyed in of itself. At the same time, the album is best experienced in its entirety, without the need to skip around, for each song offers something unique to bring to the table.

Origins manages to maintain a classic Eluveite feel with its chugging guitars and heavy chord progressions, but they also step it up a notch with some newly-introduced intricate riffing in songs like "The Nameless" and "King", as well as more complex lead guitar work in such songs as "The Silver Sister" and "Inception". They have also succeeded in bringing the guitars in as more of a dominant role in the album rather than having them just be the background substance, as they sometimes fell to be in older albums.

The vocals add a whole lot to this album's meatiness, with their usual combinations of high and low hard voices. In some of the songs, including "Inception" and "King", there are moments when both ranges are incorporated simultaneously, giving an overall gutsy and eerie effect to the sound. Also, this release presents more frequent appearances of Anna Murphy, the group's female clean vocalist, mainly in the songs: "Celtos, "The Call of the Mountains", and "Vianna". This implies that the band is gradually trying to expose her as a more prominent and iconic figure among them, and its effects have proven it successful. She has a wonderful voice, by the way.

And now, we come to what makes Eluveitie who they are: the Celtic influence. Beginning with the album Slania, it was clearly evident that the group was leaving behind some of its Celtic qualities they had so proficiently expressed in Spirit. By the release of Everything Remains, it was questionable as to whether they should still be classified as Celtic metal. In Origins, there is not a doubt in my mind that the music they make matches up with what they claim to be, and this is exemplified in each song, definitively in "From Darkness", "Celtos", and "Carry the Torch", for example.

One of the most frustrating tendencies of some bands is their lack of acknowledgement of older material. Some groups will even try to turn fans away from older music in order to shed better light on their newer stuff. However, Eluveitie obviously holds their earlier releases in high esteem, showing not only respect but homage to it, and because of that they leave subtle clues that reference to older albums. Most fans will recognize that the song "Celtos" is influentially derived from "Inis Mona" of Slania, but its structure salutes an even older piece: "Uis Elveti" from Spirit. In the same way, "Carry the Torch" is musically put together in a similar fashion to that of "Tegernako" and "Siraxta" from Spirit, and if you pay attention to "The Day of Strife" some of the chanting can be questionably argued to be based off of the chants in the song "Spirit". Not only does this add to the quality of the work musically, but it brings out the sentimentality for the band that should be found in all Eluveitie fans.

Origins may be no Spirit, but Eluveitie is finally making a turn for the better with this latest release, and it can only be hoped for and anticipated that they will only get better from here.

Same as Ever - 50%

Metalchuck, August 7th, 2014
Written based on this version: 2014, CD, Nuclear Blast

Well, Eluveitie's done it again. And by that, I mean that they've released nearly the exact same album for the fourth time in a row (discounting Evocation). You'd be hard-pressed to find anything on this album that you hadn't already heard on Slania or Everything Remains.

The folk instrumentation is as skillful as ever, but the riffing is the same, simple melodeath drudgery that they apparently borrowed from mid-era In Flames back in 2008. Seriously, if it wasn't for the hurdy gurdy and Chrigel's trusty tin flute, I'd barely be able to tell most of these songs apart at all. Even with the plethora of other instruments in the mix, the guitars make up a surprisingly large part of Eluveitie's sound, and it's a shame that they're still choosing not to do anything remotely interesting with them.

Fortunately, Chrigel's raspy vocals are as on point as ever. His rather unique tone is one of the few things in the band's repertoire that hasn't gotten stale. On the other hand, Anna's still wailing away in an attempt to sound as much like Evanescence as possible. There isn't anything inherently wrong with her voice; it's just that I keep expecting her to break into "Bring Me to Life" at any time, and it's rather unnerving. They've been utilizing her more and more ever since Slania dropped, and while I'm only too happy to have a stronger female presence in metal, her voice just doesn't particularly do much for me.

Another qualm I have is that there's just no real sense of atmosphere on this album. Spirit was filled with a delightfully airy, folksy atmosphere that made it stand out in metal, but that mostly disappeared on Slania, and it's absolutely absent on Origins. What we have is a very polished, sterile-sounding record that lacks any of the charm and feel of the band's early work. But as that's been the case from Everything Remains onward, it's not surprising. It's just rather sad.

So, if you're looking for a fresh take on folk metal, you can go ahead and pass this up. However, if you're looking for another sixteen songs that sound exactly the same as this band's past two albums, you're in luck!