Elvenking - Secrets Of The Magick Grimoire

Published November 26 2017

*=Staff's pick	Invoking The Woodland Spirit* Draugen's Maelstrom The One We Shall Follow* The Horned Ghost And The Sorcerer* A Grain Of Truth The Wolves Will Be Howling Your Name 3 Ways To Magick Straight Inside Your Winter The Voynich Manuscript* Summon The Dawn Light At The Court Of The Wild Hunt* A Cloak Of Dusk

Genre	Folk/Power Metal	Damna	Vocals
Tracks	12	Aydan	Guitar
Running time	61 Min.	Rafahel	Guitar
Label	AFM Records	Jakob	Bass
Release	November 10, 2017	Lancs	Drums
Country	Italy	Lethien	Violin
Producer	-
Similar bands	-

Additional vocals: Angus Norder and Snowy Shaw.

Italian metallers Elvenking put out their ninth studio record and it kind of works as an extension to their last effort, 2014's The Pagan Manifesto, whereas it follows pretty much the same musical direction, just a little more bombastic and epic on a few parts. Their apparent folk metal ingredients with medieval elements and their unmistakable power metal components are still present indeed and fans would definitely not have to worry if they choose to buy a pig in a poke on this one.

Even if I can sense a partial return to the older days and the early material too, a lot has happened sonically in the last 16 years since the first album Heathenreel and this brand new stuff comes out so much greater sound quality-wise and therefore any further comparison besides a certain kinship between the records would be just utterly ridiculous.

It's still well-spirited music though and the songs are often pretty magnetic and captivating to my ears and I think Secrets Of The Magick Grimoire is yet another solid making by the Italians. I'm not sure how much I can praise this one without coming out too caught up in the moment, but it's absolutely a well enough satisfying product at the end of the day and even if it's maybe not their best work to date it's hands down just as good as its predecessor in my opinion.

See also review of: The Pagan Manifesto , The Winter Wake , Wyrd , Heathenreel

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
7	4	7	7	7

Summary
7 chalices of 10 - Tobbe