Eluveitie. A Swiss folk metal band that you'll often find telling ancient stories about Switzerland. Having released their first works in 2002 with the Ven EP, they have been making good tunes since then. I am here to tell you what my favorites from this glorious band are.
25, The Siege-Helvetios, we begin our list with the thirteenth track of the 2012 album, Helvetios. This is one of the most brutal tracks you'll ever find in their discography and it's only 2:42.
24, Calling The Rain-Slania, heading back to 2007, we get one of their longer tracks span at over 5 minutes. This comes from the same album mind you that also features the ever popular Inis Mona. This is a bit repetitive which is why it's lower on the list.
23, Quoth The Raven-Everything Remains (As It Never Was), the title clearly having some Edgar Alan Poe inspiration, this is one the more somber sounding tracks. This is especially due to what sounds like the lead singer from Coheed and Cambria singing in the chorus. It adds a nice touch.
22, The Victory Song-Spirt, the ninth track off of their second release. The title doesn't deceive you at all either. While the intro is played on repeat, we do get to hear vocals as well. Besides, Eluveitie isn't know for instrumentals at all.
21, Celtos -Origins, the fourth track from their most recent release, this starts out with a folk heavy tune and then transitions to something more of what we are used to. There are some clean vocals especially in the chorus but for the most part, it's classic Eluveitie.
20, The Silver Sister-Origins, speaking of Origins, we come full speed ahead into our first single track. The twelfth track from Origins, this really is only good with the rest of the album in my opinion. I can say it is very brutal when it truly needs to be though so, that's a plus.
19, Primordial Breath-Slania, the second track from Slania, this is a more epic anthem than anything. With what sounds like folk chants in the beginning and more faintly in the chorus. This isn't quite as long as Calling The Rain either.
18, Kingdom Come Undone-Everything Remains(As It Never Was), another highly brutal track from Eluveitie, this has some of the fastest folk metal drums I've ever heard. The actual folk instruments however are mostly absent or hard to hear.
17, Vianna-Origins, not to be confused with the Austrian capital Vienna, this includes most the two clean vocals of the women in the band. Also, I feel like I'm flying sky high right in the chorus as well due to their vocals.
16, Brictom-Evocation: The Arcane Domain, the second track to the album. This has mostly folk elements and the lyrics are in Gaulish, an ancient extinct language that was used in ancient Switzerland. The lyrics are very fast and can be hard to keep up with if you're not careful.
15, Uxelldonon-Helvetios, the second to last track from Helvetios is one of the saddest songs I've ever heard in my life. Though it doesn't sound like that at all. You know that at Alesia and Tullimon everyone dies from trying to escape the Slanian war. And so it all ends.
14, Inception-Origins, "and there was nothing" starts off the brutal and dark track that comes from the album to show how everything began. I especially like the song because everything builds, especially the drums, and it gives its self a break in the middle of the song with some narration.
13, Helvetios-Helvetios, the second track to the album of the same name. This is the true start to the album where we find our Helvetians trying to find peace in a war they wish never started. The lines "We're born free, we're born wild" truly exemplifies that statement. Oh, if this album didn't have a sad ending.
12, King-Origins, a single and continues the trend of being as brutal as you possibly can. This will trick you the first time around when we get to the heavy part of the song. The chorus is nice as well, with more of a melodic death metal approach there as well. Also, there's a fiddle solo right in the middle adding to this chaotic track.
11, Inis Mona-Slania, The third track and single from the 2007 album. This is more of a happy, anthemic track with some death metal growls as well. One of the tracks that defines Eluveitie.
10, Luxtos-Helvetios, the third track off of Helvetios, this has a very catchy sound to it unlike the rest and includes a mix of English and Gaulish as well. I will admit, it's a bit short and can get repetitive after enough times but those are the only flaws I found.
9, The Nameless-Origins, the second track from Origins and one of the only tracks ever with blast beats. No seriously, those blast beats caught me off guard so badly, I thought it was a completely different band. Anyway, one of the more brutal tracks, again, in their discography that needs mentioning. With an outdoorsy feel to it as well, because it's folk metal.
8, Alesia-Helvetios, my very first Eluveitie song that I remember. This has a more melodic and somber feel yo it, especially since Anna Murphy takes center stage in this track. It's four minutes not long at all but it then transitions to Tullimon with the choir at the end. Let me tell you, Tullimon is enough to bring to tears.
7, The Call of The Mountains-Origins, the official anthem to Eluveitie. Ok, that's a lie but it's the most anthemic song I've ever heard in my life. Once again, Anna takes center stage with this one and she can take down thick, iron walls with that voice of hers. I will always try and sing this at the top of my lungs whenever it comes on.
6, Omnos-Evocation: Arcane Domain, this is basically a retelling of Red Riding Hood. The only difference is the language used. Once again, Anna takes center stage however the frontman does provide clean vocals when playing as the wolf.
5, Havoc-Helvetios, the tenth track and one of the singles in Helvetios. This can go rampaging like when a mosh pit initiates. This is a horrendously fast and chaotic track, yet we like every lasting moment of it.
4, A Rose For Epona-Helvetios, yet another popular song from the band. This is an instant classic and isn't very hard to tell either. Yet ANOTHER track where Anna takes center stage, this is where the girl Epona leaves the village along with the rest of her villages and hopes to stay alive.
3, From Darkness-Origins, the third track from the latest album, this is more folk than brutality when compared to The Nameless. It even starts with what sounds like a mandolin at the beginning.
2, Neverland-Helvetios, the eighth track to Helvetios. This is more folky than anything. This is especially surprising since it comes after arguably the saddest and most depressing song in the history of everything. It is considerably upbeat when compared to our next entry.
1, Meet the Enemy-Helvetios. If you aren't crying or feeling even the least bit sad after this track, either you're a robot or you need a reality check because it is impossible to not feel sad after this track. With what starts out as your everyday Eluveitie tracks, this is then taking a turn for the emotional and acquiring a mandolin and Anna's soft voice to intensify the feeling. I'm ready to cry just thinking about it. The blast beat drums and the outro mandolin all make you cry no matter how hard you resist. It's tracks like these that help bands go out of their comfort zone and make something incredibly beautiful.
I am the Grim Reaper, and I consider Eluveitie's Meet the Enemy the saddest song ever heard to mankind.