In 2001 a new amazing band unleashed their new amazing debut album upon the world:
Elvenking's
Heathereel was a fantastic release that perfectly married Power Metal and cheery folk music in a way that spirited the listener away to distant worlds.
For the next album, singer
Damna had left the band, leaving a huge gap, only to return for the third strike,
The Winter Wake. The following years saw the Elves experiment with different styles, including a full, acoustic Folk album (
Two Tragic Poets.And A Caravan Of Weird Figures).
On Red Silent Tides,
Elvenking explore a more Hard Rock oriented style, and the album is a surprising, more stripped down take on the folk theme that runs through all of the band's releases like a red thread. The double kick drums and overly high pitched vocals, signature elements of the band's initial sound, are used sparingly, and the songs are more cut to the bone. An element that thankfully remains in the music of
Elvenking is the folkish influences, both in the melodies and in the instrumentation and arrangement of the music. It's great to see this element of their core sound isn't abandoned; it gives the album an element of recognition, even with the slight style change, it still feels like
Elvenking.
The album starts out with the strange
Dawnmelting, a song that's both closest to the initial sound of the Italians and probably the poorest song on the disc. An odd choice for an opener, the fast drums in the beginning gives the impression of a generic, possibly slightly confused album, which is certainly not the case. Despite some wining parts, the song doesn't really show the new direction of the band in a good way.
It is with the next streak of great songs, the album really comes into character:
The Last Hour has such a merry feeling and infectious refrain,
Silence De Mort is so wonderfully melodic and beautiful,
The Cabal grabs you right away with it's great melody and folk'ish overtones, and
Runereader shows the band still knows how to kick up the tempo and brutality a nod. The album keeps a surprisingly high standard, there´s no real bad songs.
A very important factor in making the album a success is the great vocals of
Damna. Technically he sounds a lot like a certain
Michael Kiske, but still has one of those voices that you could pick out among a million others. Instantly recognizable and personal. I doubt any other singer could have made the music have the same impact; Damna carries the music and performs with an integrity and passion that is key to making the album so enjoyable.
When all my praise is said, I have to say that the album misses that little extra something to take it from really good to ingenious. All songs are good, the album is very consistent, and it is without a doubt an album I will spin from time to time, when I need some feel good music without too many gimmicks.
But as much as I would like to applaud
Elvenking for being so musically adventurous, trying different genres and striving to evolve their music, it also hit me how formulaic their approach is to each genre they try out: apart from the folk elements, their songs on all albums I know tend to follow a very strict formula or structure for that specific style. The songs do become predictable and that does drag the overall impression down a bit. It's like they are only adventurous inside the confinement of some kind of box they put themselves in, never thinking outside the box. That doesn't make the album downright bad, just a bit predicable.
In conclusion, while not a masterpiece, Red Silent Tides is a good and very consistent album, that should appeal to lovers of different kinds of melodic Metal.
Written by
Nina Sunday, February 6, 2011
Show all reviews by NinaRatingsNina: 6.5/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
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