ALBUM REVIEW: Ategnatos – Eluveitie

Switzerland’s ELUVEITIE have been among the upper echelons of folk metal for some time now. Mixing melodic death metal with traditional folk instruments, they’ve always been a more serious, artistic outfit, focusing far more on telling tales of Gaulish history rather than the cheesy drinking songs many of their peers specialise in – and it has served them well. However, in 2016, the core of ELUVEITIE was shaken with the departure of long-time members drummer Merlin Sutter, Anna Murphy and Ivo Henzi, who went on to establish CELLAR DARLING. The band went on to release their seventh album, Evocation II – Pantheon the following year to mixed reviews, with the main criticisms drawing from the much more melodic, folk orientated sound. Conceptually, this made sense as Evocation I – The Arcane Dominion was in same vein, shedding much of the death metal influences. However, ELUVEITIE are back with Ategnatos, seeing a return to the heavier style that cemented their place at the top of the genre. 

Clocking in at 16 tracks and just over an hour in length, Ategnatos is the longest record ELUVEITIE have put to tape to date. This is a double edged sword, however – with Ancus, The Silvern Glow and Trinoxtion acting as introductions to the following songs, they don’t really work as stand alone pieces and would have been better served crafted onto the tracks they introduce, or trimmed completely. Further, a couple of the full songs aren’t really up to scratch with the rest of Ategnatos, and the album would have been all the stronger without them – namely the single Ambiramus and The Raven Hill; neither of which are bad songs, but they simply don’t hold up against the unparalleled strength of the rest of Ategnatos, and feel a tad too upbeat and cheery which causes them to seem out of place with the rest of the record.

However, this is where the negatives of Ategnatos end. Although there’s a few songs surplus to requirements, the bulk of the album is ELUVEITIE at their best. For the majority of the record, the band take the listener on a dark, brooding adventure through the history and mythology of ancient Gaul. Ategnatos‘ title track and video single opens the album in furious form. Immediately, ELUVEITIE remind us exactly what is so magical about their brand of folk metal, interweaving crushingly heavy death metal with soaring, melodic and emotional folk music as vocalists Chrigel Glanzmann and Fabienne Erni trade barrages of death growls and beautiful singing in equal measure. After the 11 second interlude of Ancus, Deathwalker continues in the same vein, confirming that Ategnatos is some of the heaviest material ELUVEITIE have ever written. Like the title track, Deathwalker carries a huge chorus that was crafted for a live show.

Black Water Dawn sees ELUVEITIE delve deeper into the melodic side of their sound, accompanying the aggressive riff work with a beautiful wind-instrument section, and an utterly huge chorus led by Erni‘s soaring vocals. Lead axe-man Rafael Salzmann gets a chance to shine here as well, breaking out a solo ripped straight from the ’80s shred handbook. Mid-album highlight The Slumber makes a strong case for being the perfect ELUVEITIE song, with all elements of their sound firing on all cylinders – the riffs are crushing and sombre in equal parts, the traditional instruments are ethereal, and Glanzmann and Erni trade off their vocals wonderfully. Highlights Worship and Threefold Death prove to be two of Ategnatos‘ most interesting pieces. Again, we see Glanzmann handling vocal duties solo on Worship, delivering one of the heaviest tracks on the album, though the folk-driven mid-section works perfectly within the aggression. The beautiful, tranquil singing of Enri is cut of completely by the darker elements of ELUVEITIE‘s sonic arsenal, and the riff-work here takes a more sinister turn. The bluntness of the transition between the soft and heavier parts here really make Threefold Death stand out.

It’s been a colossal ride, but the trio of Breathe, Rebirth and Eclipse bring Ategnatos to a majestic close. Where Glanzmann has dominated the vocal duties for much of the second half of the album, we see Enri take a much more prominent role towards the end of the record. The chorus in Breathe, in particular, is one of her strongest moments on the album, delivered with so much emotion and passion it’s impossible not to stand up and take notice. Rebirth, which was originally released as a single in 2017, has been given a nice reworking, and brings in the last moments of brutality on Ategnatos before Enri closes the record with the beautiful Eclipse. Here, ELUVEITIE end the album on a tranquil note, concluding the epic journey they’ve taken the listener on in a haunting fashion.

The spoken word intro to Ategnatos ends with the line “This is my rebirth.” That could not be more apt. Although the record suffers from a handful of filler or out of place tracks and would benefit from being about ten minutes leaner, for the vast majority of the album ELUVEITIE are showcasing exactly why they are at the top of the folk metal tree. Everything is ramped up far beyond what the band have ever demonstrated – the folk elements are more ethereal, the melodies more emotional, and the metal elements are at their heaviest. The 2010s have seen ELUVEITIE release a series of hit-or-miss albums, but Ategnatos brings that trend to a close and heralds a new age for the Swiss collective – there is no debating, this is the strongest album from the band in a decade, and arguably, their entire discography.

Rating: 8/10

Ategnatos is out now via Nuclear Blast Records. 

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