Eluveitie: Slania (10 Years) album review

Swiss folk-metal rabble Eluveitie look back on looking back with Slania (10 Years)

Eluveitie album cover

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.

A year after Turisas released the pivotal The Varangian Way, Eluveitie turned heads with Slania, which drew from the visceral stylistics of Gothenburg metal

They have a gazillion members, which onstage is quite the spectacle, and while Slania didn’t take Eluveitie big time, it did present a band who were intensely dedicated to the cause. 

Getting through 28 musicians in their time – not including guests – their medieval musical weaponry is an intelligent re-enactment of authentic folk ingredients

On Slania you’ll hear violin, hurdy-gurdy, bagpipes and flute, creating pastures of historical re-enactment. With a 10-year perspective, this re-release represents Eluveitie surpassing folk metal boundaries by invoking a brutal 21st-century DM evolution – it’s a must-have for the horn-wielding hordes.

For Fans Of: Finntroll, Ensiferum, In Flames

Holly Wright

With over 10 years’ experience writing for Metal Hammer and Prog, Holly has reviewed and interviewed a wealth of progressively-inclined noise mongers from around the world. A fearless voyager to the far sides of metal Holly loves nothing more than to check out London’s gig scene, from power to folk and a lot in between. When she’s not rocking out Holly enjoys being a mum to her daughter Violet and working as a high-flying marketer in the Big Smoke.