Eluveitie, Ategnatos

Eluveitie is one of those bands that never bores me and, despite of maintaining a somewhat constant and easily identifiable sound, also has enough variety and change to remain fresh album after album. Ategnatos is more of the same, but with a twist (which has come to describe almost all of their releases in the past years). The difference is this twist might just be the best one yet. 

I’m always a sucker for that kind of storytelling-style start of an album and opening Ategnatos gets me all excited about what’s to come. It sounds epic, without employing all the orchestras and sountrack-cliches in the world, and that flute is always bound to make me super-happy. It’s a very energising and addictive song that encompasses everything I love about Eluveitie and I already have trouble stopping from headbanging and dancing in my chair. 

Deathwalker starts off very well, but the chorus quickly goes into cheesy territory in a very anti-climatic way. And every time it picks up steam (especially in that awesome bridge that seems to grow towards the most intense moment in music history), it reverts to the corny chorus and completely gets me out of the mood. That’s the reason I can’t stand Cellar Darling and I was hoping this side of them went away with Anna. But I guess there are still some residues here and there. 

I cannot get enough of the flute in Black water dawn, it’s so beautiful and it contrasts so well with the heaviness of the other instruments. For all of what Fabienne brought to Eluveitie, I still think the instrumental is the part were they truly shine. And speaking of Fabienne, her voice is so clean and crystalline that it’s always a pleasure to listen to her. She also fits in perfectly into the folky vibe of the band, which is more important than any 4-octave range or power to break glasses. 

A cry in the wilderness is a track in the vein of their older albums, with a lot of flute, a lot of Chrigel and no female vocals. It has considerable strength and intensity, but at the same time some soft gentle moments that have only found their place in the sound of Eluveitie in the later years. 

The raven hill is marked by a heroic chanting chorus that is bound to get stuck in your head for days, but the rest of the song also gives as good as one gets.

The silvern glow and Ambiramus form a cute flute-driven pair, but the latter is rather underwhelming and falls into the same pattern of previous singles, a pattern I’m none too happy with. Like I said before, Fabienne has a lovely soothing voice, but all their female-lead tracks are so incredibly corny, I personally would be better off without them. 

Thankfully Mine is the fury is here to completely change the mood, as one of the darkest and most aggressive song they put out in ages. It does a good job of soothing any fears fans might have they’re going into a more commercial and shallow direction. I’m a huge fan of their acoustic albums, but I cannot stand their Alessia-type releases, so the little of and further away from that, the better. 

Love the beginning of The slumber, so dreamy and ethereal and then growing steadily towards… Call of the mountains? Have I lost my hearing or is that chorus almost identical? It definitely has the same cheap hollow vibe, and despite the fact the rest of the track is rather strong, the chorus constantly brings it down and makes it a strong contender for the absolute bottom of the record. 

Worship starts off in a creepy manner, quoting from the Apocalypse with screams in the background. It’s quickly becomes even darker than Mine is the fury, as even their normally cheerful hurdy-gurdy has adopted a minor tonality, but it sounds quite epic and it’s interesting to hear a more settled and serious version of Eluveitie. 

And Threefold death immediately and gloriously follows in its footsteps. More grunts, more minor and dissonant harmonies and a brutal brusque alternation between Fabienne’s soft echoing vocals and the angry drum blows provide for one of the best parts of Ategnatos, that might just carry more weight than everything they’ve played before. Ten plus for the effort. 

Breathe has a delightful positivity and melodiousness, but fortunately doesn’t stick to it enough to let it become insipid and grating, and goes instead into a more serious mood, before finishing with a Gregorian choir. I’m not sure I remember Eluveitie having so many changes of atmosphere and pace in the course of a song, but I absolutely welcome it, even if maybe they need to work more on cohesion and the transitions. 

Rebirth returns to the regular Eluveitie fast paced flute sequences accompanied by equally fast paced drums, grunts and Fabienne’s singing (yes, I hear everything else accompanying the flute, not the other way around), but I feel like there’s considerably less of their infectious joyfulness and this time they are leaning more towards a grave sound. The angry harrowing screaming near the end of the track promptly comes in to support this. 

The album ends with Eclipse, that reprises the main melody of Rebirth in a gorgeous heartfelt and heartbreaking chant from Fabienne. The rain and wind wheezing in the background are a nice touch that add to the grimness of it. 

Ategnatos seems to be a new step in the evolution of Eluveitie. It blends in most of their already established characteristics, but it focuses a lot less on the cheery (and shallow) tunes of their last albums and replaces them with a darker and angrier sound. It could be argued that heaviness is not new to their style and it would simply be a return to their earlier releases, but Eluveitie has never sounded so solemn and melancholic. Having fixed the problem of Evocation part II and replacing the boring back to back end tracks with an incredibly strong finish (that extends from pretty much the middle of the album, if we’re being honest), Ategnatos is their best release since Slania and Evocation I.