Eluveitie - Evocation II – Pantheon album review

Rejigged folk metal troupe head down the acoustic path

Cover art for Eluveitie - Evocation II – Pantheon album

You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.

Eluveitie are no strangers to line-up changes, but when three core members left last year it shocked the folk metal community. Evocation II – Pantheon, featuring six new members, is the band’s second acoustic release – a style that suits Eluveitie’s mournful yet joyous take on Celtic metal. Stripped of their heavier sensibilities, and with founder and multi-instrumentalist Chrigel Glanzmann foregoing death growls, Evocation II… is carried by a serene, elemental sense of mystery. Many of the tracks begin with the sound of rain and new vocalist Fabienne Erni’s haunting, earthy tones continue the band’s trend of singing in ancient Celtic language, Gaulish (where do they find these Gaulish-fluent singers?). At 18 tracks it’s a tad overlong, but in songs like Epona, Lvgvs and Nantosvelta, Eluveitie have unearthed some real earworms.

Dannii Leivers

Danniii Leivers writes for Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Prog, The Guardian, NME, Alternative Press, Rock Sound, The Line Of Best Fit and more. She loves the 90s, and is happy where the sea is bluest.