Eluveitie - Ategnatos

This Eluveitie record has no business being this good. I thin that a lot of Americans kind of dismiss all folk metal these days. We look at the way the genre peaked and then slid into obscurity with a little bit of disdain even. I think any time you try to pitch folk metal to someone based on in the US it's a challenge and coming to terms with this whole situation can be a struggle especially when given a record as good as this one. With Ategnatos Eluveitie prove that they've still got it and that they have no thoughts of going away any time soon.

I think that it's important to remember that Eluveitie put out some of what are arguably the most important folk metal records ever. Their influence has been massive and every new offering from them seems to be another step towards folk metal dominance. The use of dynamics on this record is very impressive and overall the songwriting is such that it almost makes up for the fact that Ategnatos drags on for just over an hour. While there certainly are moments of cheese, they are fairly self aware and that corniness makes for some really fun parts. I don't view the silliness as a con as much as I view it as a fundamental part of what this band can be.

Through it all there are some truly impressive moments of At the Gates inspired riffage and addictive odes to mosh worthy madness. This is a band who have always represented a vast web of sound and Ategnatos seeks to represent as much of it as possible. While they are only partly successful on that front, it still makes for some compelling listening. This is a record that can't help but to fascinate and which is going to keep you coming back for more the deeper you delve into their heavy hitting pagan metal world.

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