Elvenking are an Italian Power metal band formed in Sacile (Friuli-Venezia Giulia) in 1997. Among the most appreciated Italian metal bands in other countries, they are characterized by the various influences that make up their sound, including Heavy Metal, Folk, Hard rock, Pop, Progressive rock and Classical music.
The beginnings and Heathenreel (1997-2001)
Elvenking was formed in 1997 by guitarists Aydan and Jarpen. In 1998 singer Damnagoras and drummer Zender joined the band. Since the beginning, the group has played a combination of Heavy metal and Folk, also combined with more extreme sounds. In 2000 Elvenking released their first work, the demo "To Oak Woods Bestowed", recorded at New Sin Studios in Loria. The demo was quite successful and the band signed a contract with the German label AFM Records. Also in 2000, bassist Gorlan joined the band.
In July 2001 Elvenking released their first full length, entitled "Heathenreel". The band's debut album was recorded and mixed at Fredman Studios in Sweden by Fredrik Nordstrom. The album was met with considerable success throughout Europe and Skyclad, a band that Elvenking had always declared to be a great source of inspiration for them, hired them for a series of concerts together.
The tour in support of the "Heathenreel" album fueled a lot of interest in the band. After some shows in Italy, Elvenking made their debut abroad in the 2002 edition of the Sziget Festival, together with Edguy, and at the Bloodstock Festival, together with Gamma Ray and Blind Guardian.
Change of singer and Wyrd (2002-2004)
In 2002 Damnagoras decided to leave the band and was thus replaced by Kleid. The new frontman abandons Damna's very vocal approach, moving towards more Power metal sounds, which will greatly characterize Elvenking's next album.
In the same year, the violinist Elyghen also joined the group: from this point the permanent presence of a violinist would be a great distinctive feature of the band. In April 2004 Elvenking released their second album, "Wyrd". Recorded and mixed in Germany with Achim Kohler, the album is inspired by the book The Way of the Wyrd by English writer Brian Bates, who often collaborated with the band in writing the lyrics.
"Wyrd" manages to replicate the good success of its predecessor, "Heathenreel", demonstrating that Elvenking are not a passing phenomenon.
Despite the good popularity achieved, tense relations within the group lead to Kleid's abandonment of the band: again in 2004 the singer Damnagoras returned to be part of Elvenking. However, at the end of the year, when the group starts working on their third album, guitarist Jarpen decides to leave the group, but the band decides to stay with only one guitarist, Aydan.
The Winter Wake and European success (2005-2006)
Having extended their contract with the AFM Records label, the band worked on the new album, The Winter Wake, throughout 2005. Elvenking's third full length was recorded in Italy and mixed in Finland with Nino Laurenne, guitarist of Thunderstone, who would collaborate in the creation of much of Elvenking's subsequent work. Released in January 2006,
the album is still considered the manifesto of Elvenking's sound, containing some of the group's greatest hits, including "Trows Kind", "Swallowtail", "The Wanderer", "Rats Are Following", "Neverending Nights" and the title track "The Winter Wake", which features the collaboration of Schmier, frontman of the German Thrash metal band Destruction. The tour supporting The Winter Wake sees a considerable growth in the band's success in Europe, with participation in festivals such as Scaligero, Tradate Iron Fest, Dong Open Air (with Finntroll and Skyclad), Rock Hard Festival,
as well as participation in Pestpop Festival with Saxon and Epica. The band was also hired as the opening act for the European tours of Jon Oliva's Pain, Doro Pesch and Sonata Arctica.
The Scythe (2007-2008)
Once the tour was over, the band immediately recorded their fourth album The Scythe, which was released in September 2007. The album, a concept on the figure of death, marks a notable turning point in Elvenking's sound, which introduces Death metal elements and more modern sounds to to the detriment of the Folk component, displacing some of the early fans.
The single "The Divided Heart" is taken from the album, the video of which enjoys considerable success on YouTube and is broadcast on German and Swedish MTV.
In the meantime, the band decides to return to the two-guitar lineup and temporarily hires guitarist Rafahel. The tour supporting The Scythe brings the band to perform with Vision Divine, Primal Fear and Gotthard. The band also appears at Rockin' Field in Milan with Mago De Oz and debuts in the United States at the 2008 edition of the ProgPower Festival in Atlanta.
Two Tragedy Poets (...And a Caravan of Weird Figures) (2008-2009)
The following full length, Two Tragedy Poets (...and a Caravan of Weird Figures), released in 2008, marks the band's total return to folk sounds. Almost entirely acoustic, it includes new material and acoustic versions of some of the most famous songs from previous albums, as well as the cover of Belinda Carlisle's Heaven Is a Place on Earth. The subsequent tour takes the band to Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Hungary, England, and ends with a show at the famous Summer Breeze Open Air in 2009. At the beginning of 2009, their entry into the line-up of guitarist Rafahel and shortly after the entry of Lethien to replace Elyghen.
Red Silent Tides (2010-2011)
Elvenking never ceased to experiment with their sound and, with American producer Dennis Ward, created Red Silent Tides.
The album, released in 2010, marks an almost radical turning point in Elvenking's sound, which considerably downsizes the Folk component in favor of a more linear and melodic Power metal.
The reaction of the fans is mixed, however the two singles "The Cabal" and "Your Heroes Are Dead" are a great success on YouTube and immediately become among the band's live classics together with songs such as "Dawnmelting" and "Runereader".
The Red Silent Tides tour takes the band across Europe with Primal Fear and Kissin' Dynamite; a headlining tour in Italy then follows.
Back to Basics and Era (2011-2013)
The exhausting activity led to the abandonment of historic members Zender and Gorlan in 2011. The band thus finds itself having to rebuild the entire rhythm section and hires Symohn on drums and Jakob on bass. The new lineup debuted in the autumn of 2011 during the 10 Years in Heathenry tour, a series of Italian dates celebrating the tenth anniversary of the first "Heathenreel" album. The band subsequently travels to Finland to record the successor to Red Silent Tides with Nino Laurenne.
In the spring of 2012 Elvenking became special guests of Rhapsody Of Fire at their concerts in Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland; immediately after they embarked on a summer tour with Crucified Barbara. The new album Era, released in September 2012, marks Elvenking's return to the Folk sounds that characterized their early works; however the album is extremely varied overall and contains all the genres that have influenced the band in the past years. Preceded by a few days by the video of the song "The Loser" (which achieved moderate success), the Era album immediately debuted in the German top 100 and received very positive reactions from the press.
The supporting tour takes place in the autumn of 2012, then the group starts working on the new album in October 2013.
The Pagan Manifesto (2014)
Towards the end of February 2014, Elvenking made the teaser of their new work, entitled The Pagan Manifesto, available online. Their eighth studio album was released on May 9 of the same year and contains the single "Elvenlegions", already released on March 21, 2014 and for which an official video was also released.
The Night Of Nights (2015) - Live
After the release of the eighth album The Pagan Manifesto the band played many concerts, and decided to release its first live album, recording the concert in Pordenone. This live album summarizes their career in twenty-five songs, which are both famous songs and others never played live such as "Seasonspeech" from the "Heathenreel" album. On YouTube there are the official videos of "Pagan Revolution" and "Seasonspeech" published by AFM Records.
Secrets of the Magick Grimoire (2017)
In September 2017 the group announced the entry of new drummer Lancs into the band and the publication of a new album, "Secrets of the Magick Grimoire", out on November 10 of the same year through the record label AFM Records.
The release of the album is anticipated by the release of three singles, "Draugen's Maelstrom" on October 5th, "The Horned Ghost and the Sorcerer" on October 20th and "Invoking the Woodland Spirit" on November 3rd.
Reader Of The Runes Trilogy - Divination (2019)
In 2019 Elvenking released their new 10th album, "Reader Of The Runes - Divination", through the AFM Records label preceded by the singles "Under the Sign of a Black Star", "Silverseal" and "Divination". The band is also accompanied on the following tour by Headmatt, already known for being the guitarist for the bands Feline Melinda and Chaos Factory.
The intention is to kick off a new trilogy of concept albums. The follow-up album, "Reader of the Runes – Rapture", was released on April 28 2023.
Influences
Elvenking has declared itself to be a band highly influenced by Folk music and dances from all over the world. Amongst the most influential bands on Elvenking's style is Skyclad.
Albums
Heathenreel (2001)
Wyrd (2004)
The Night of Nights (2015) live
The Winter Wake (2006)
The Scythe (2007)
Two Tragedy Poets (...And a Caravan of Weird Figures) (2008)
Red Silent Tides (2010)
Era (2012)
Pagan Manifesto (2014)
Secrets of the Magick Grimoire (2017)
Reader of the Runes – Divination (2019)
Reader of the Runes – Rapture (2023)
Members
Davide "Damnagoras" Moras – vocals (1997–2002, 2004–present)
Federico "Aydan" Baston – guitars (1997–present)
Mattia "Headmatt" Carli – guitars (2022–present)
Alessandro "Jakob" Jacobi – bass (2012–present)
Simone "Symohn" Morettin – drums (2011–2017, 2022–present)
Fabio "Lethien" Polo – violin (2009–present)
Former members
Massimo "Kleid" Bottiglieri – vocals (2002–2004)
Jarpen – guitars, unclean vocals (1997–2005)
Luca Luison – guitars (2005–2007)
Raffaello "Rafahel" Indri – guitars (2007–2022)
Sargon – bass (1997–1999)
Gorlan – bass (2000–2011)
Zender – drums (1997–2011)
Marco "Lancs" Lanciotti – drums (2017–2022)
Elyghen – violin (2002–2010)
Source: Translated mainly from the Italian Wikipedia