Ревью альбома "VEN" от Mordor Magazine (Английский язык) (12/11/03)
The Swiss present us hard and rough Metal, paired with mysticism and Celtic Folk music. You should be stylistically open-minded, if you want to listen to Eluveitie. And you should have a soft spot for Death and Black Metal, but also like plain, raw Metal music itself. And a penchant for celtic instruments like bagpipes, whistles, fiddles and many more, would be advantageous. If you comply these basic conditions, then theres nothing to get in the way for the musical fireworks of Eluveitie! Already the Intro paves you the way which this ten-headed Band has taken. The sounds of Hurdygurdy and beautiful whistletunes mate with hard guitar riffs and enhance to ecstacy. With "Uis Elveti" the first song is presented - its a track with irish influences. The groovy riffs provide you heavily drive and the choral singings make sure to create a grand atmosphere. The rich moods in this song and the distinctive dynamics create a great tensity. The only thing that needs getting used to, is the complexity of the instrumental arrangement. Somehow youre just not able to grasp everything at once. More Swiss becomes the CD with the following instrumental "r", for the first minute of it is just made of the sound of the Alphorn. As well in its further devolution this song remains quiet and will elate you with some very special instruments, like the mouth harp for example. Clearly more aggresive it goes on with the next song. "Lament" presents hard riffs of the brand "Swedish Death Metal". But of course Eluveitie dont forget the celtic influences - as well in "Lament", one fiddles like the devil. Blastbeats and demoniac guitars in the following song "Druid" remind of really grim Black Metal. As well the vocals are very murky here. And of course as well in this song, the ladies and gentlemen dont neglect the celtic ascendancy. As well in "Druid" there are whistles and picked chords. More quiet is the last track of the CD. There are grave guitar riffs and gentle tones of an instrument that somehow sounds bagpipe-like. As well the whistles bring out their best at the end of the song and so "Vn" is completed as mystical as it commenced. Amazing how Eluveitie manage to combine the hard and the mellow and even make it to bring both extremes to an inexplicable harmony!
The upshot: A masterpiece of Swiss music history! A bold combination of extreme Metal and soft Celtic melodies. An Album which on needs to listen to several times to halfway understand it!
8 points (of 10)