Slania Reviews

• It's the best folk metal cd ever made!

  
  By A1IASHNUF6F31P on 2008-02-23
  Eluveitie have created the most immediately listenable and enjoyable metal cd I have ever heard. Am I heaping too much praise on this band? No! I can't begin to explain how incredible this cd actually is. People, The 30 second samples don't do this justice. I played this cd in the music store where my wife works and the customers were drawn over to the speakers that we were standing beside (we had it playing very low at first) and by the end of the song customers were asking us to turn it up! I guarantee you will enjoy this if you buy it! Spread the word!
  
  

• Slania is amazing

  
  By A3741H653OLFL9 on 2008-03-25
  This album is so good. I usually don't like music like this (tempo, high metal vocals) but Eluveitie is an exception. I ususally only listen to bands like Opeth and stay clear of most of the new cloned crap thats coming out, but Eluveitie is, again, an exception, and a great one at that. They are so good. The other reviewer is 100% correct saying that the 30 second samples don't do it justice. If you like originality, metal, melodies to die for, and overall just some great metal, then buy the mp3 album. Its a bargain for how good this band sounds.
  
  Favorite song so far is between Grey Sublime Archon, and Bloodstained Ground. I can't decide... they're just great songs. A+
  
  

• Absolutely one of the best bands I've ever heard!!

  
  By A2QCHUQGNUXFL4 on 2008-05-26
  Let me start off by just saying that Slania is probably my favorite album ever. I stumbled across the video for Inis Mona (the 3rd track on Slania) and was completely and utterly blown away by Eluveitie's incredible sound. I was never a huge fan of death metal vocals, but Eluveitie is absolutely phenomenal. The mix of the folk music, including flutes, hurdygurdy, bagpipes etc with hard and fast metal is complex, beautiful, catchy and utterly addictive. It may sound like I'm exaggerating, but I'm being completely sincere when I say that Eluveitie's Slania, is one of the best albums I've ever heard.
  
  

• Convinces me that the flute is the most metal insturment ever!

  
  By A1WLRPEWZ3H3WD on 2008-04-30
  Take two very epic sounding types of genres: Folk metal and real Gothenburg (At the Gates, Dark Tranquillity) and give all of their musicians excellent musicianship, and you will get the sound presented on this album.
  
  A couple of weeks ago I was listening to Music Choice when all of a sudden this song entitled "Grey Sublime Archon" came on and was blown away. It's an excellent blend of folk insturments, growls and clean vocals, and the Gothenburg-ish guitar riffs. The growl/sung chorus comes in with "Gray Sublime Archon I've been called. . ." gave me goosebumps and is an example of when combining growls and clean vocals is a good idea. (a bad example of when it goes wrong being In Flames)
  
  So I bought this album and all I have to say is that it is just as epic as that track. "Inis Mona" with its deep sung chorus and beautiful flute playing the melody, the many wonderfully put together insturmentals, and the song "Slania's Song" with female vocals really stick out to me.
  
  Even the weakest track imo is amazing. "The Somber Lay" is an extremely strong track like the others, but the folk insturments in the chorus of the song sometimes sound like they're going all over the place and like there is too much going on. It was sort of an awkward listen, but still an excellent track.
  
  Overall, if you like Dark Tranquillity, Finntroll, Moonsorrow, any other folk metal bands, get this album. You won't be disappointed.
  
  

• Amazing use of folk instruments, sad use of others.

  
  By A38GUARNIYPZGD on 2008-05-31
  Okay, let me start by saying "yes, this is a great album". It's like a Braveheart metal tribute. It's emotional (in a good way, I assure you), rhythmic, and easy to listen to. I use the term "easy" because most of the work with the folk instruments are outstanding and epic pieces, but unfortunately the rest (guitars, vocals, drums to some extent) leaves something more to be desired.
  
  The guitar work is overly-simple, in my opinion, and is the reason for it not being a "5 star" for me. Track 3 is my least favorite song on the whole album due to it's almost "main-stream'ish" song structure and overall sound. I think this was due in large part to the lack of ability of the guitarists. That being said it will remind you of the VERY EARLY Gothenburg sounds, however, it is no where near the technical ability of bands enhancing those sounds like Dark Tranquility. DT has way more technical prowess on the guitar than this band. If the guitar work on "Slania" were upped to a bit more of a technical climate like, say, Ensiferum this would be a STELLAR album. However, if you're looking for heavy, staccato-laden solos or even complex guitar scale structure, this isn't the album to buy.
  
  Summery: If you're like me and tend to enjoy your metal with some mead and bagpipes, violins and flutes then this will be a treat for your ears as it was with mine. All in all, it's a great album and very enjoyable for the metal-head with a penchant for wind instruments and violins with a tinge of very basic gothenburg metal. If you like metal similar to Ensiferum or Turisas I say pick this album up. It's a great listen despite how much I dislike the guitar work.
  
  
• Fun 'Death Metal'
  By A3E1N2J6DHGXL4 on 2008-06-25
  First of all, I'm not a death metal fan. I don't find it offensive to my sensibilities or ears and I can treat it as 'white noise' if it's playing, but I generally like clean vocals.
  
  That said, awhile back I picked up "Amon Amarth's" "With Oden on Our Side" and enjoyed it a lot, mainly because I loved the melodic nature of the instruments. So off and on I've been searching for other music of a similar vein. Slania isn't really all that similar, but I like it nevertheless.
  
  What IS similar is that the melodies of the music are much more interesting to me than the normal 'thrash/death' style, but the way the melodies are created is different. In Slania, the melodies are driven by the folk instruments (flute particularly) while the guitar work is very straightforward *but still quite good). As others have pointed out, Slania is often classified as straight "Folk Metal" and/or "Melodic Death Metal", thus Amazon's classification is misleading, which is why I've changed this review to reflect that.
  
  I like the variety in the music. A couple of songs are very light on the folk instruments, others use clear vocals, including my favorite song on the CD, "Slania's Song", which features a female counterpoint which works nicely. Oddly, my one main complaint is one of repetition. There's a flute melody which appears to be repeated in many of the songs, particularly near the end of the CD.
  
  Still, this is another example of a 'Death Metal' CD which interests me, though admittedly that's because it isn't pure Death Metal, but rather "Melodic Death Metal" or "Folk Metal".
  
  
• surprising
  By A3IN2MF9QO0W9G on 2008-04-21
  I don't usually go for the screaming metal, but this is excellent. My daughter introduced the band to me via a music video, and I'm hooked. I think the instrument choices of the band make it so good. I love medieval european music and traditional instruments, and combining them with metal is outstanding. Other bands with the same formula would be In Extremo and Tanzwut - but they come without the screaming. They really are more traditional.
  
  
• Beautiful and Hard Rocking Folk Metal Album
  By A3O0IREZ8YUP67 on 2008-04-26
  Eluveitie have taken a giant leap forward with "Slania". While their previous efforts were quite good, this album is in the big leagues, with the very best of Ensiferum, Turisas, Korpiklaani, and Finntroll, to name a few outstanding folk metal bands. (And if you enjoy "Slania", you will enjoy those bands, except maybe not the most recent Finntroll release from 2007, which is mainly guitar-based, but try Finntroll's "Nattfodd" or any of their other albums for a great, fun, folk metal thrill!)..."Slania" is excellent because is really rocks HARD on most tracks, with death-growl vocals, yet at the same time many traditional instruments are used throughout the album, giving it NOT so much a viking sound as a medieval sound that is really lovely. If you like any of those bands I mentioned above, this album is an absolute MUST!
  
  
• A Strange Mix . . .
  By A50RKRH2SIRJN on 2008-05-03
  ... of Folk Metal with a little "something else". It is hard to describe Eluveitie. The way i do it is Folk Metal meets Death Metal or Melodic Death Metal. the only difference is that the melodic part, the lead is with instruments such as violin, pipes, or hurdy gurdy.
  
  The same rings true throughout their new album. i cannot begin to tell you how many times i have listened to this album since it's release. this is a very solid album with only a few minor gripes such as what i feel to be poor placement of pinch harmonics in the second track. but for most people that won't be a problem, it isn't for me, i just think they could have been left out.
  
  Without going into extensive detail, i suggest everyone interested in Folk Metal buy this, even though it has some Death Metal to it.
  
  A must buy!
  
  
• Just.... WOW!
  By A3O466VEJJLM0D on 2008-05-06
  It has been exactly 48:42 minutes since I bought the album (plus the time taken to write this review). I found the band on Amazon, saw the six 5-star reviews, and decided to take the plunge and buy the album.
  
  Now let me say that although I'm into melodeath bigtime, I've never been a huge fan of folk metal. I however do occassionally listen to soft folk rock like The Corrs. So I was stunned, no, OVERWHELMED, when I heard Eluveitie blend folk elements so seamlessly with melodic death metal.
  
  There are flutes, oh yes. Violins? Think so. Plus a bunch of other funny (albeit pleasant) noises too. All together with melodious guitar lines and great vocals (there's even one with female vocals). The net output is a whole new level of awesomeness, which is quite surprising from a relatively unknown band.
  
  So, while my review is clearly not what might be considered well-thought out, I wanted to "weigh in" here on how cool this album is. If you like melodic death metal, you're going to LOVE this. In fact, the track 'Bloodstained Ground' would have almost been indistinguishable from a Dark Tranquillity track (but then the incredible folk stuff kicked in :P).
  
  Recommended tracks: Inis Mona, Bloodstained Ground, hell... all of them :).
  
  PS: It's the not-yet-popular bands like these that need your support (and money) the most! Please please buy the album if you like it after listening to a few of the songs.
  
  
• Celtic Tranquility??
  By AAXFU78OIIE1H on 2008-08-07
  This album is pretty good. A lot of melody and ferocity. The first time through, I thought it sounded very similar to Dark Tranquility - but with the addition of some folk instruments. The more I listen, the less I hear the DT sound. Overall, this is a solid album - nothing mind-blowingly original, but it does the trick and gets me through another day at work.
  
  
• Amazing band, Amazing CD....see them live if you can!
  By AX7GQLTS3DA0F on 2008-10-09
  I caught these guys live a week or so ago, they were one of the bands opening for Kataklysm and Dying Fetus. I had never heard of them before and WOW did they put o a hell of a show, I bought the CD immediately after their set was over and have not stopped listening to it since. I have been a fan of Korpiklani for a while now but I think I like their style of folk metal better. Great mix of metal guitars and old style instruments (bagpipes, flutes, violin, hurdygurdy). It works so well give them a shot, the CD sounds great but they sound even better in person!
  
  
• Great CD
  By A1199ZDLGRO2HF on 2008-05-07
  This is a great CD, especially if you liked their first CD.
  
  Everyone pretty much already said everything. . . but I'll say my opinion.
  
  The Pros:
  
  Its Folk, definitly, and I love the folk sound. There is so many different instruments, its great! Nice variety. Not only that its incredibly intense metal mixed in with it, making it all the better.
  
  The songs are incredibly catchy, especially Inas Mona. They are more technical than Spirit. The drumming is the same. The folk instruments are a million times better in my opinion, though. They use them so much more and in more interesting ways than in Spirit, its fantastic!
  
  Favorite Songs: Inis Mona, Tarvos, the Somber Lay, and Calling the Rain.
  
  The Cons:
  
  This band has really intense music, but it isn't blended well with the weird instruments in my opinion. I don't think they mix the folk instruments with the metal very well at all. This CD does it better than Spirit, but it could be so much better in my opinion. They could flow together in many instances. . .
  
  I never hear the violin in any of the good songs. . . I like the violin and its rare to hear it on any of the songs I end up liking :( I think Tarvos is the only one where I remember hearing the violin and actually having it do a catchy riff. . .
  
  Great band! Get this if you like Folk death metal!
  
  
• Best Melodic Metal of 2008!
  By A3EPZNFF590EXL on 2008-07-27
  Great use of diverse instruments and vocals, and really excellent songwriting. A great find for fans of folk metal, death metal, and melodic metal alike. I'm actually not a huge fan of death metal vocals myself - I mostly tolerate them as part of the music that surrounds them - but Chrigel Glanzmann does them as well as I've ever heard. Several reviewers have made comparisons to Dark Tranquillity, which I think is spot on: while Slania does not strike me as derivative, I think that fans of Dark Tranquillity (which definitely includes me, I own their entire catalog) will enjoy this CD a LOT. Favorite tracks: Tarvos (a real standout for me), Bloodstained Ground, and Gray Sublime Archon.
  
  
• great new band
  By ALEUPSKHNKP75 on 2008-08-05
  I heard this bands song on xm radios station called liquid metal on dn my directv it was such a new and refreshing twist the vocals sound like the dude from dark tranquility who I met a nile show here in ft. lauderdale florida it seems that all scandivian people especially in metal bands are some of the nicest people and inteligient finnish are considered the smartest people in the world they beat the japs in every category science math history must be doing something right up in 40below degrees and now they are putting out great metal bands like this one and children of bodom tell me that alex lahio doesn't shred anyway this band is unique which they are considered folk metal with tradional insrtuments fiddle, mandola,gaita, uilleann pipes, bodhrain,hurdygurdy,flute,tin and low whistles I had to look up some of these instruments up they're from the medeivel times instruments very refreshing and different and the chicks in the band are hot also great pick up only have a couple of albums under their belt but am sure to pick up their preivious efforts
  
  

• Korven Kuningas
• Captain Morgan's Revenge
• Spirit
• Victory Songs
• The Varangian Way