ELVENKING

There are releases that you can't exactly call bad, yet at the same time you clearly understand that if this disc had never come out, neither metal fans in Europe, nor penguins in Antarctica, nor Jedi knights from distant planets would have lost anything whatsoever in their lives or social development. You can now definitively forget that ELVENKING ever had folk motifs in their music. Today this is exclusively power metal with small infusions of Finnish melodic death metal. Harsh vocals are employed quite extensively — essentially there are three vocal techniques: clean (typical of power metal), raspy, and a rasping growl. On the musical side, violin and a massive amount of keyboards certainly remain, and there is even a string quartet. Quite a lot crammed in, overall. The compositions are diverse — more than diverse, in fact — you can't deny the release that quality. However, objectively strong tracks can be limited to perhaps "A Riddle of Stars," partly "The Divided Heart," and a brutal-sounding bonus track; the epic closing the disc also deserves attention. In terms of thematic direction, artwork, and overall sound, the work is very dark, with themes of death constantly present. The general diagnosis for this disc is as follows: everything and nothing, it's very hard to find specific fault, and if you look at the overall level, yes, it's quite decent — but it's more reminiscent of selecting the least bad rather than the best. In short, fans of power metal should certainly check this disc out; it won't be superfluous in a discography, but I repeat: don't expect a masterpiece.