So Elvenking finished a new album, quite a surprise! I’d almost forgotten entirely about them. Together with Falconer they were a band that I listened to quite often, like Finntroll and Skyclad, the folk/power/melody metal combination attracts many young metal-fans, including me. Don’t get me wrong here, Elvenking is not like any of the bands I named above. Elvenking started out of devotion for folklore and metal combined together and they play in a way that is hard to compare with other bands in this genre.

Their previous album, ‘Heathenreel’ had some great songs like “Seasonspeech” and “Oakenshield”, but the weakness on Heathenreel were the vocals which were sometimes leaning towards annoying. Due to health problems, the former vocalist left Elvenking and this is where Kleid comes in as a replacement. The vocals sound much more confident, have more feeling and warmth and fit well with the folk. This time, you don’t need to be afraid whether or not the high parts will be reached or not, because Kleid’s voice are – as said – much more confident and he sings any line without a problem. The vocals are no typical power metal vocals, for some this is an advantage and maybe some of us may find this less interesting. But believe me, if that is so in your case, the melody makes up for it all!

‘Wyrd’ begins with an intro called “The Loser’s Ball”, where female as well as male vocals, violins, acoustic guitars combine wonderfully.

Their greatest talent is their skill of combining everything. They’ve got it all: violins, keyboards, heavy guitars as well as acoustic guitars, high, warm and female vocals and lots of power mixed up with folk. Yes, lots of bands have this, you might say. But to produce an album with all those elements with success is a different story, and Wyrd shows it is definitely possible. Elvenking are capable of using their folk elements in lots of ways, on one hand they increase the feeling for melody and on the other hand they use folk loose from the metal in intervals which really make you plunge in the atmosphere.

So, don’t hesitate to buy this album if you already liked Seasonspeech, nor hesitate if you like folk influences in metal, well, just don’t hesitate at all. Elvenking should get the entire honor for this stunning success of folk and power!