It may have taken 7 months but better late than never they say. It’s time to dive deep into the new Elvenking album, the second part of their trilogy of ‘’The Reader of the Runes’’, appropriately titled ‘’Reader of the Runes – Rapture’’.

I will not stand here in front of you guys and gals and tell you I have been listening to Elvenking for years on end, that would be such a blatant lie. I have known the band for at least a decade but never sat down to listen to any of their material. I don’t know why, at times I get burned out by music as a whole, not only the Power Metal genre. I was bombarded with the genesis of the genre back in the mid to late 90s so I was not overly impressed by the newer generation of bands after that. It took me years and years to become a fan of the genre, I was still making my place in the world and discovering so much music here and there.

Elvenking are the perfect example of a band that does not need a singer that hits the high notes to grab the audience’s attention. You have so many Power Metal bands, young and old, that have these powerful singers with an impressive range but this time, the quality of the material, surpasses any need for that. Damnagoras establishes a mood, a setting and his range is precise, I would rather have a more competent singer than someone that overdoes it.

It took me some time to get used to the band, not aware of their prior releases nor their style of Power Metal, I knew they were Italian but were they more like Rhapsody or White Skull? That’s the beauty of doing reviews, you discover bands you would not have known on your own. To listen to this album, I traveled back to where I came from for a few years. I wanted a good starting point when listening to the album so I walked through the streets of my former hometown. You can see the influence of the older Power Metal bands but there is a lot to choose from in a few cases.

The first thing that strikes you is the quality of the production is top notch and most of the songs still ring in your head hours after you have listened to this very album. I have listened to so many Power Metal albums the last few years and this blows everything out of the water. I was rather impressed, and this is the most impressive sound quality since another Italian Power Metal juggernaut, the underrated and underappreciated Derdian.

Instrumentally, this is a towering monolith in the metal world, as Elvenking are more folk metal here than they ever were without forgetting their Power Metal roots. Overall this is pretty damn complex and challenging stuff. Winding orchestral synths and pianos are intertwined with heavy, mechanical rhythmic riff patterns and pounding, mountainous drum beats, with classically influenced arrangements and song structures, very much giving off the aura of a raging sea, sometimes calm and sometimes angry and violent. The actual songs here seem to follow somewhat of a pattern; starting slower and almost poppy, with catchy choruses and layered vocals, but eventually building up into a monumental storm of melodious accomplishment, or perhaps a tirade of layered, orchestral chanting. There’s no doubt that the band could still write Power Metal songs without being dull and boring.

However, there is something that kind of erred me the Death Metal growls at times, it’s not overly present, it’s just here and there but it feels uninteresting and unnecessary. I just feel it’s out of place pretty much, it does not add much to the songs and I just don’t get hooked on these harsher vocals when it’s just thrown in for good measure. It felt lackadaisical and lazy for me and that’s a pretty big deterrent for me honestly.

The band channels the grandiose Power Thrash Metal stylings of bands like Savatage and Iced Earth with the occasional wink to bands like Blind Guardian and Helloween. I think they sound unique enough and ‘’Reader of the Runes – Rapture’’ does not sound like something I have heard before in the genre. It’s rather difficult to stand out in the Power Metal genre but I felt this was refreshing. I was not expecting it, well I don’t know what I was expecting obviously but it didn’t feel stale. You have some Folk Metal elements with the traditional Power Metal sound so it’s a world of difference to so many of bands out there.

The songs may be interchangeable at times other than the energetic Power Ballad which is something that stands out like a sore thumb. I usually hate these types of songs but ‘’Red Mist’’, delivers a solid punch yet catchy. You have the 4-minute songs and the longer 6-minute epics so it’s a nice selection of songs and it does not feel overdone or overexposed. I don’t mind if songs can be here and there on an album, the rhyme or reason is usually for concept albums so it’s not a big deal honestly.

Fantasy and Folklore explode into one homogenous effort with this new album. I am quite impressed by the quality of the offering, songs like ‘’The Cursed Cavalier’’ and ‘’The Hanging Tree’’ are tracks you can suggest to anyone who wants to discover the band. These are prime examples of what Elvenking can offer and I want to listen to their prior releases because they piqued my interest with this new album.

It’s hard to fathom that it’s been 25 years since their first release but the Italian Power Metal Titans are back at it in 2023 and hitting the road in North America of all places, for the first time in their career, to show this new album to the world. Sometimes it can’t take a while to get their chance out of Europe but now the world’s a stage and people will finally see their music live and in living color.

‘’Reader of the Runes – Rapture’’ has been on so many Top 10 lists I have been reading in the last few months so maybe sometimes, discovering something late is not a problem at all, especially on this occasion! A Power Folk Metal album that is heartfelt, energetic yet masterful. A pleasant surprise if it ever was one…