Artist: Elvenking
Title: Red Silent Tides
Type: Album
Label: AFM

I don’t remember last album The Scythe particularly well, despite reviewing it back in 2007 however reading a couple of reviews has managed to jog my memory – “power-core” is how one scribe describes it, which does ring a bell for me as I seem to recall making a similar observation back then. There was a melo-death edge to their sound, mixed in with power and folk influences and while it could be said they were trying to make their sound appealing to the young, trendy metal audience at least there was a bit of attitude behind what they were doing. Perhaps such accusations got to them? I don’t know, but it seems that with Red Silent Tides they have shifted from a sound designed to appeal to 17 year olds in skater pants and shiny Dragonforce t-shirts, to a sound that I really can’t see holding any appeal to anyone but men aged 50-plus who listen to only the blandest of Adult Oriented Rock, and who’d probably laugh at 90% of what gets covered on this site with a “kids today don’t know real music” speech reeled off to their spouse who probably isn’t listening anyway.

At heart Elvenking are a power metal band, however they dress it up that core influence isn’t going away, but with Red Silent Tides they have ditched all the elements that ever made them remotely interesting. I suppose the violin is still there, if you squint your ears juuuuust right, but it is very subtle and the folkiness of previous albums has disappeared. So, if the name Elvenking coupled with the artwork and mystical logo conjures up the illusion of a band playing the kind of stuff that Frodo and the gang would get merry to at the inn then you’re definitely in for a shock.

‘Dawnmelting’ comes rolling in with a power metal riff which is soon joined by a cheese-coated hard-rocking vocal. This is belted out with power alright, but then so is a Bryan Adams number and you’re 100% not likely to find any of his albums in my house. The lyrics seem to be typically safe cock-rock fare too with ‘Those Days’ kicking in with the obligatory “Yeah, yeah” before we’re introduced to a party-friendly melody in the vein of Def Lepard. There’s plenty of foot tapping, easy going rhythms here, and ‘The Last Hour’ has an anthemic chorus with a massive hook. I’m sure this album will have an appreciative audience out there somewhere, but given they seem to change their direction so much on every album it’s hard to imagine how they can build a solid fan base at all. Having enjoyed The Scythe somewhat, and their acoustic folk album from 2008 I would have previously considered myself a fan however after hearing this I shall certainly not be holding my breath for the future.

http://www.myspace.com/elvenking