Elvenpath – Pieces Of Fate Review
Independent Release – Power Metal – 2015
Elvenpath have been plodding away at the heavy metal scene delivering four albums of traditional German power metal over the last 17 years. Following on from their relatively bland self-titled third album, Elvenpath returned to the drawing board and returned in 2015 with their latest album ‘Pieces Of fate’.
As an album ‘Pieces of Fate’ is a huge step forward for the band, not only in terms of skill and song writing, but also in terms of production, the latter of which was the main issue behind the bands previous album. At times, ‘Elvenpath’ was difficult to listen to, many of the song ideas were there, but they were sullied by a dull production and this is sometimes the case with an independent release. However, with ‘Pieces of Fate’, the production is much more sonically pleasing and because of this, the album is significantly better.
With this album, it would also seem that Elvenpath have gone back to the drawing board with their crafting of songs. Although, many of the tracks previously had that spark, its lacklustre finishing meant that Elvenpath at times were relegated to sounding as if they were ripping off Blind Guardian. However, vocalist Dragutin Kremenovic has honed his voice, he now bellows with the power and might needed to front a band of this ilk and whilst the Blind Guardian influence is still there, Kremenovic is much better with tracks such as ‘Mountain of Sorrows’, Sons of the Blood Cult’ and ‘Sentinel of the Past’ stand out as a band which is growing and learning fast. Prior to the release of ‘Pieces of Fate’, Elvenpath released the single ‘Wild Boars of Steel’ in 2013 and whilst this had many of the hallmarks of the bands previous album, the latest Elvenpath album rerecords this song, breathing new life into this single and finally giving it the balls it deserves.
However, as much as these changes make ‘Pieces of Fate’ better, there are still elements of the old sound lingering for example, ‘On The Elvenpath’ drags on and on with ‘The Liars’ Dance’ culminating in just being plain dull. Elvenpath still have a lot to learn, but ‘Pieces of Fate’ is a huge step in the right direction and it will be interesting to see how the band follow this.
Rating : 72/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
