Ok, I’m going deep on this one and I realise for many of you Elvenking’s 7th album may not deserve this level of introspection, so bear with me. Mixing power metal and folk music leaves a band on the margins of already pretty marginalised sub-genres. I’m not saying there isn’t a decent audience but, whereas some metal divisions are inherently protected from criticism by their sheer inaccessibility, power metal has no such in-built defences. What is more it so often sounds all too familiar. A bit like over-produced, pumped up versions of Scorpions anthems, or worse, Bryan Adams played at the wrong speed. Having started on German ‘speed’ metal bands in the 1980s I’m pretty much a card carrying addict for this sort of stuff, broadly speaking. The instant hit of the soaring riffs and high vocals takes me back to simpler times and keeps me going on those dark winter mornings. The problem is, like a true addict, I’m always chasing that first high and it’s so often elusive. At times this is not an easy genre to stick by because there is so much guff pumped into it. So what can I say about Elvenking?
On the previous six albums they have proved to have far more than the standard thimble full of ingenuity and song writing talent. The folk-power thing is a difficult combination to make work because on paper it shouldn’t. Twee is a word that springs to mind but I’m sure people can think of others. But while other folk metal bands like Falconer (an excellent band) deal with that by providing a harder edge Elvenking is pretty much squarely in the fast power-rock end of the spectrum with some acoustic musical interludes. In fact, when they decided to be a bit more adventurous with 2007’s very decent and well above average The Scythe, long-term fans accused them of betrayal on a grand scale – dismissing the album as everything from death metal to metal core. It’s really not, it’s just a bit heavier than the other ones. And that’s with the stress being on the ‘a bit’ bit. Oh well.
Those same long term fans will be glad to say the resumption of normal service that was 2008’s Two Tragedy Poets and the follow-up Red Silent Tides has continued. In fact, if anything, Era is more straightforward, a bit more ‘rock’ than folk but just as focused on the uplifting choruses. I can see the attraction of a band that clearly intends to deliver for its loyal fans and not bugger things up by going off-piste on self-indulgent musical adventures again. It’s a solid band and could be a staple for any committed fan of the power genre. But for me they don’t have that shock of inspiration that can make these bands great and fall short of delivering that euphoria I expect from this music.
(7/10 – Reverend Darkstanley)
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