Review by Jeger on March 23, 2025.

Eluveitie? Okay, imagine if James Cameron kidnapped some poor folk metal band and forced them to make an album that sounds the way Avatar looks, but with all the crazy sensationalized Celtic folk you can handle. The band consists of about 37 people! And the music is about as rich and elaborate as it gets. Within the scope of everything Eluveitie does, you'll discover influences rooted in melodic death and folk metals, but teeming with Nightwish level epic cheese. At the end of the day, Eluveitie is a mainstream metal band, so their material must be explored with that reality in mind. Most of these bands have worked hard to earn a roster position with a label such as Nuclear Blast, and they haven't made it this far just to reduce themselves to recording on basement equipment like an underground black metal band. This is the big leagues, kids, so excuse me while I dumb myself down enough to review this mainstream metal record… On April 25, Eluveitie will release Ànv via Nuclear Blast.

A dozen tracks, no compromise and engineered for cinema. Imagine Wolfheart but with fiddles, flutes and dreamlike female cleans. And what am I going to do with all this melody? And all of this brutality? "The Prodigal Ones" - a dual-sided journey where both are explored equally: gargantuan riffs, tyrannical rhythms, Omnium Gatherum-like keyboard passages and Scar Symmetry-worshipping melodic sequences. But it's all so plastic, and for the most part, it's all been done before. Not even the stunning titular track with all of its drama can save this one. Tracks like "Premonition" are more like it, but even as it kicks off with such ferocity, it's not long before it gets diluted by superficial Riverdance-reveling Celtic folk travesties and more of those cleans that have already worn out their welcome. Metal for people who love Titanic is what this is…

Extraordinary talent on all phases here, but frankly, Eluveitie just butcher Celtic folk. What's supposed to be stripped-down and earthy is just this sanitized abomination. The acoustic interlude, "Anamcara", sees Eluveitie in the throes of Paganism. Another highly dramatic affair. This one details the restoration of Nature by the Gods. Keep it simple, children! This is just a melodic death/folk metal salad. "The Harvest" is a unique cut in comparison to the rest: no cleans, balanced and modest. Then we're back to dancing jigs and guzzling brown ale as "Memories Of Innocence" plays. I REALLY dig this one. The fiddles, the guitar and the rhythm are enough to make you wanna get up and do a little Riverdancing of your own. Don't hurt yourself, champ…

When it comes to extreme metal that conceptualizes Celtic mythology, I think I'll stick with Absu… "Aeon Of The Crescent Moon" is sounding pretty sweet though. They always start off sweet, but it's like that chick that looks hot from a distance, but grows ever-more-busted as you get closer. Great fiddle work during this track, best of the entire album.

People listen to Eluveitie and believe that they're taking in some real culture… That's because they are unfamiliar with the magic that takes place underground. This music is manufactured and not created with any real sense of culture/ethos. A box office smash! Unfortunately, I'm more of a Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny kind of guy… People pay money to watch Transformers and those same people will love this album. Dream Theater nerds will be all over it as well, but any seasoned enthusiast who's been exposed to true folk-inspired metal will admonish it right away. Nokturnal Mortum anyone? Ah, much better…

Rating: 6 out of 10