ALBUM REVIEW: Ascending In Synergy – Elvellon

Symphonic metal is not a niche corner of the genre like it once was, having produced a number of legitimate headliners since the turn of the century. But its formative years continue to be its most definitive, with few new acts making a mark like your NIGHTWISHes or WITHIN TEMPTATIONs. The scene’s canon of records has barely been updated since those early days, as most younger bands’ major influences can be traced back 20-plus years.

There is something quite deceptive about Ascending In Synergy, ELVELLON’s second album. On first listen, the German metallers appear to be playing it safe, hitting all the marks of a bog-standard symphonic metal record, never veering from their lane. It almost feels familiar. But with repeated listens, it becomes clear this nuts and bolts approach is deliberate. Instead of getting lost in the woods trying to push boundaries for the sake of it, ELVELLON aim to recapture what made so many people fall in love with the genre in the first place.

That is to say, it brings to mind not just the genre’s big hitters, but also their best moments. The Aftermath Of Life has an undeniable Wishmaster vibe to its frenetic synths, drawing from NIGHTWISH’s purest era. The grand flourishes in Ocean Of Treason combine with some proper riffage to echo EPICA when they found their swagger. Opener Unbound recalls THE DARK ELEMENT, full of unashamed melody and wonder over particularly pronounced percussion. It acts as a fun trip down memory lane while also addressing the genre’s stagnation. If those early records inspired such devotion, why mess with the formula?

If there is a complaint to be made, Ascending In Synergy could do with losing at least half a minute from most of its tracks, all but two of which run over five minutes. Long does not inherently mean epic, and so some songs lose steam despite coming out all guns blazing. Into The Vortex reintroduces the metal after gorgeous ballad Last Of Our Kind with some real groove, but what ought to be a sharp injection of urgency ends up meandering.

But they get the balance right too. A Vagabond’s Heart is an ideal thesis statement for the band and record as a whole, accessible and catchy. A Legacy Divine, one of the record’s shorter cuts, benefits from the less is more approach, sounding tight and cohesive. Ocean Of Treason ebbs and flows almost perfectly, building to a cinematic climax with a vocal display that makes sure you know Nele Messerschmidt is the real deal. Her vowels are wide and her vibrato is not to be taken for granted, elevating the calibre of the record with its proficiency. Her delivery on The Aeon Tree’s chorus of “Tell me everything / Embrace the child you are at heart / Let this place fill you with awe” is everything great about the symphonic genre (even if the song’s long spoken-word passage is everything it could do without).

Moving forward sometimes requires looking back. Ascending In Synergy is not a rule-breaker, it will not disrupt the genre, but in paying careful attention to what made it so great in the first place, ELVELLON have turned its lights back on. Remember when symphonic metal felt magical? ELVELLON do, and they’re here to tell you all about it.

Rating: 8/10

Ascending In Synergy is out now via Napalm Records.

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