Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion

No other album is anything like this. Eluveitie's other albums don't have the same kind of sound, because this one is exclusively acoustic; more to the point, nobody else has set ancient Gaulish language texts to music. It's a brilliant idea, and Eluveitie would deserve credit for trying it even if the music were only so-so. Let me be clear: The music is excellent. I've played this for friends, and they thought it was wonderful before they had any idea of the back story. It's folk fusion from a metal band that knows how to rock.Some of the musical interpretations of the texts are a bit surprising. The 'beliassu sete' love letter (?) of Châteaubleau Tile 16 is way less aggressive, at least as P.-Y. Lambert renders it, than the piece Eluveitie wrote ("Nata"); conversely, the Larzac curse-tablet 'inside brictom' gives rise to two songs, of which "A Girl's Oath" is too intimate and "Brictom" too joyful for a text that counter-curses suspected witches. On the other hand, I can't imagine a musical setting more perfect for the Chamalières curse-tablet 'andedion diíiuion' than the haunting "Dessumiis Luge". All of the songs that I've named, however, are beautiful, as are the instrumental pieces and "Na Regv Na".This album is right where music meets historical linguistics and archaeology, and the result is sublime. Fingers crossed for an Evocation II!

I've listened to Eluveitie for years now. This is the second album of theirs that I've bought, and it's one of the best purchases I've ever made. Omnos is my favorite song on the album. (Of course it helps that it's the song I discovered Eluveitie by.) The whole album is beautiful though. The folk aspect of their music really shines through in it. Everything they do is great, but this (along with "Everything Remains As It Never Was") can easily claim to be among my top favorite albums ever.

I saw this group live last week and started with ear plugs because they were the third group and my head was aching. But I had to pull out the ear plugs once I heard their first song - this is a rare and amazingly talented group that deserves a listen by anyone curious about death metal, celtic music, and the like. The growling took some getting used to when my son first exposed me to this genre but now I can't get enough of it, especielly because of this group. Give it a try - everyone seems to think Slania is their best so maybe give that a try first, but you won't be disappointed in any of their CDs.

If you like Eluveitie, you will love this cd.

The first musical interpretation I had of the gaelic/celtic/nordic cultures. I truly adored it at first and still find it to a phenomenal album. I've just found a couple groups to have a better interpretation than Eluveitie in my opinion.

Eluveitie acoustic album. Not what you would expect. Good but not as good as Evocation II: Pantheon

Great all the way through

The quality of sound of this album is phenomenal! Definitely enjoyed this album!

Gaelic music interpretations by a Swiss metal Band. Interesting and again not my sort of product normally but for something different it will get some plays by me. I have absolutely no idea of the lyrics but like the use of traditional folk instruments used like penny whistles, acoustic guitars and the Hurdy Gurdy. I leave it to each individual to decide on whether this is to their taste

Interesting but will come as a shock to those who have only heard the metal stuff.

Great buy love this band

Brilliant music

Here they are being cool and quiet. Amazingly.