Elvenking

The Winter Wake
Elvenking was formed in October 1997 by the guitarists Aydan and Jarpen who were old friends and who share the same passion for metal music and folkloristic traditions. In the early months the band was faced with numerous line-up problems and the changes in formation impede the following activity of the band. In March 1998, singer Damnagoras joined the band and in the following months the group found stability with the arrival of drummer Zender.

Right from the beginning, Elvenking set themselves the objective of finding a formula which can combine power metal, medieval folk music and extreme sounds in a unique mixture, with lyrics based on the pagan worship of nature and on the tradition of folkloristic fairy-tales. After considerable live experience, the band realized to record a promo CD that should arouse the interest of record labels.

Because of musical divergences bassist Sargon left the band and therefore the group started searching for a valid substitute, but without success. Nevertheless they recorded the promo with a four member line-up with Damnagoras in the double role of vocalist and bassist. The recordings took place at "New Sin Audio Design" in Loria / Italy where bands like Labyrinth, White Skull, Domine or Eldritch have recorded in the past. "To Oak Woods Bestowed" is the result of nine days work and includes five tracks which represent Elvenking's product from their debut up today. As a result of the new promo CD the leading German label AFM Records signed a contract with Elvenking.

Somewhere in the press kit that I received with the record, it says that Elvenking is a power folk metal band. Oh well, they’re right about power, but I cant figure out what elements make the Elvenkingsound folkish. Sure, they have clean female vocals here and there and they have even thrown in a violin, but that doesen’t make a band folk or Viking, if you ask me. Elvenking is not even from Scandinavia. Elvenking is originating from Italy, which is probably why the bandmembers have altered their names, in order to appear more Scandinavian: Kleid, Elyghen or Gorlan.

But beside that, Elvenking is a pretty decent band. They’re true to the powermetal genre, with lots of clean vocal and undistorted guitars. Elvenking has been around since 1997, and they have had several changes in the line-up since then. If I have counted correctly ”The Winter Wake” which is the title of the reviewed album, is the third release from Elvenking. Since I have no knowledge about their previous releases, I can’t tell how the band has progressed from the early days. But from the sound on the album, I can easily say, that they will meet the requirements of even the most critical powermetal fan. From the first lines of this review, you may have gotten the impression that I objected towards the skills of the band. That is not so. All I meant was that the band was categorized wrong in terms of genre. It has nothing to do with skills, which the music proves very fine. As far as I can hear, there are no glitches on this record, which has been mixed at Timo Toikkis – yeah, THAT timo, Sonic Pump Studios, and later mastered at Finnvox by Mika Jussila.

Meanwhile Elvenking enriched their sound with the entry of a new bass player named Gorlan. He first came into the band as a session player, later he joined Elvenking permanently as a member at all events. Some really good names were involved in the realisation of the debut album "HEATHENREEL". It was recorded at "New Sin Audio Design" by Luigi Stefanini and mixed at the "Fredman Studios" by Fredrik Nordstrom. The cover artwork was made by Travis Smith and J.P. Fournier (a.o. Avantasia, Immortal) designed the new band logo. The album was released on July 23rd 2001.

Following the release of "Heathenreel" Elvenking showed all their skills on European stages by supporting bands like Blind Guardian, Gamma Ray, Edguy or Virgin Steele, …

Due to health reasons singer Damnagoras was forced to leave the band in August 2002. The new singer Kleid entered the band and was immediately caught by the spirit of the band. Elyghen joined the band as a new member on violin and keyboards as well to bring more atmosphere to the folk touch in the elves' music. With this line up, Elvenking recorded their brand new album "WYRD" which was recorded at the "Gernhart Studios" in Siegburg/Germany with Martin Buchwalter (Perzonal War), and mixed at the "House Of Music Studios" with Achim Köhler (a.o. Primal Fear, Brainstorm, Sinner). The new songs show in every aspect that Elvenking is moving up to a new level in their career. "WYRD" is scheduled to be released on April 19, 2004.

At http://www.metal-rules.com/FeaturedArtist/Elvenking.htm there’s an extensive background feature on the band, and information on previous releases.

Contact ELVENKING: info@elvenking.net
Official website: www.elvenking.net

The Album ”The Winter Wake” is released on 27/01 2006 at the german label  AFM Records, and can be, upon release, be bought here: http://www.targetshop.dk/showProduct.html?ID=18863

ELVENKING lineup:

vocals

 KLEID

guitar

 AYDAN

guitar and growls

 JARPEN

violin and keys

 ELYGHEN

bass

 GORLAN

drums

 ZENDER