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Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion is a bold, yet risky album for Eluveitie. The Swiss band just started making their mark in the world of folk metal with their second album last year, and toured extensively, including a couple of tours in the U.S.

Their latest CD is a mostly acoustic affair. Instead of blending melodic death and folk like their previous work, Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion has no electric guitars and focuses exclusively on the folk instruments.


Lyrically, Eluveitie uses an ancient Gaulic language, which of course isn't understandable to any listeners. It's actually an interesting sounding language, and doesn't really detract from the proceedings. Hurdygurdy player Anna Murphy does most of the singing on the album, although there's some male melodic singing and a few grunts.

Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion is a well done folk album. The songs are catchy, and the multitude of folk instruments add a lot of diversity. Where the difficulty may lie is the expectations of fans. Eluveitie played in front of a lot of new fans over the past couple of years, and they probably expect the harder edged, melodic death metal tinged brand of folk the band plays live.

Doing an acoustic album (let alone a two album set, with part 2 due later this year) is something bands generally do after their core sound is firmly established and they have several albums under their belts. Eluveitie is doing things a different way, and it will be interesting how the fans respond to their acoustic albums.

(released May 19, 2009 on Nuclear Blast Records)