The more musical and nuanced bands in extreme metal do not live by volume and brute force alone. Those are the bands that have enough going on melodically and harmonically that they would still sound good even if they opted to unplug and perform in an acoustic environment -- which, in fact, is exactly what
Eluveitie did when they recorded
Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion in late 2008. Minus the crunching metal guitar they usually favor,
Eluveitie provided an acoustic-oriented folk-rock album that wasn't as heavy or hard-driving as their other releases, but was quite edgy nonetheless.
Everything Remains (As It Never Was), however, marks their return to full-fledged metal, and the blend of forcefulness and musicality that served them well on previous electric albums also serves them well this time. The Swiss folk metal/melodic death metal unit's interest in Medieval and Celtic music goes beyond the superficial; it is an integral part of what
Eluveitie does. So on
Everything Remains (As It Never Was), bruising metal guitar, thrashiness, and death metal-growling vocals are right at home with flutes, pipes, whistles, and other instruments traditionally used in European folk. This is an excellent CD that manages to be dark, menacing, and enchanting at the same time. Granted,
Eluveitie's blend of death metal and Euro-folk elements won't appeal to death metal purists, but for those who do appreciate folk metal,
Everything Remains (As It Never Was) is exactly what the Medieval doctor ordered. ~ Alex Henderson
![House of the Dragon: Season 1 [Soundtrack from the Series]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0888574827854_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "House of the Dragon: Season 1 [Soundtrack from the Series]")