Helvetios
Helvetios is the fifth studio album by Swiss folk metal band Eluveitie. The album was released 10 February 2012 through Nuclear Blast. The CD was recorded at New Sound Studio in Pfäffikon, a municipality in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland, with producer Tommy Vetterli. It was the last album to include violinist Meri Tadić and guitarist Simeon Koch.
| Helvetios | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 10 February 2012 | |||
| Recorded | 2011 | |||
| Studio | New Sound Studio, Pfäffikon[1] | |||
| Genre | Folk metal, melodic death metal, Celtic metal | |||
| Length | 59:12 | |||
| Label | Nuclear Blast | |||
| Producer | Tommy Vetterli,[2] Eluveitie | |||
| Eluveitie studio album chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Helvetios | ||||
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Concept
Being the band's first concept album, it focuses on the Gallic Wars from a perspective of the ancient Helvetians.[3][4]
Style
The album features melodic death metal combined with Celtic folk music instruments like fiddle, hurdy-gurdy, flutes, whistles, bagpipes, mandola, bodhran, and hammered dulcimer. Band member Anna Murphy has been more involved in songwriting and has been given more vocal parts than on previous releases.[3]
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [5] |
| Der Metal Krieger | [6] |
| Metal Hammer (Germany) | 6/7[4] |
| Sonic Seducer | very favourable[3] |
| Stormbringer | [7] |
| Lambgoat | [8] |
| Peek from the Pit | [9] |
Helvetios received favourable professional reviews in Germany with the Sonic Seducer magazine calling the album "pure efficiency (pure Effizienz)."[3] The German edition of Metal Hammer lauded the tracks "Meet The Enemy", "Neverland" and "The Siege" for their aggressive Metal style and concluded that Eluveitie's musical virtues were being continued on this album.[4] A review by the Austrian Stormbringer compared the track "The Siege" to Sepultura's style and called the album a "piece of art."[7]
Chart performance
The album reached the top ten album charts in Switzerland and the Top Heatseekers of the United States.
| Charts | Peak position |
|---|---|
| SWI[10] | 4 |
| CAN[11] | 73 |
| GER[12] | 27 |
| FIN[13] | 47 |
| FRA[14] | 81 |
| Billboard USA[15] | 143 |
| Heatseekers USA[15] | 3 |
Track listing
All lyrics are written by Chrigel Glanzmann, except "Home" co-written by Anna Murphy
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Prologue" | Glanzmann | 1:24 |
| 2. | "Helvetios" |
| 4:00 |
| 3. | "Luxtos" |
| 3:56 |
| 4. | "Home" | Glanzmann | 5:16 |
| 5. | "Santonian Shores" |
| 3:58 |
| 6. | "Scorched Earth" | Glanzmann | 4:18 |
| 7. | "Meet the Enemy" |
| 3:46 |
| 8. | "Neverland" |
| 3:42 |
| 9. | "A Rose for Epona" |
| 4:26 |
| 10. | "Havoc" |
| 4:05 |
| 11. | "The Uprising" |
| 3:41 |
| 12. | "Hope" | Glanzmann | 2:27 |
| 13. | "The Siege" |
| 2:44 |
| 14. | "Alesia" |
| 3:58 |
| 15. | "Tullianum" | Glanzmann | 0:24 |
| 16. | "Uxellodunon" |
| 3:51 |
| 17. | "Epilogue" | Glanzmann | 3:16 |
| Total length: | 59:12 | ||
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18. | "A Rose for Epona" (acoustic version) |
| 3:49 |
| Total length: | 63:01 | ||
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "A Rose for Epona" (Video Clip) | |
| 2. | "Havoc" (Video Clip) | |
| 3. | "A Rose for Epona" (Making Of) | |
| 4. | "Havoc" (Making Of) | |
| 5. | "A Closer Look at the Lyrics" (...In Conversation with a Scientist) | |
| 6. | "Live at Feuertanz Festival 2010" (4 Songs Live) | |
| Total length: | 93:00 | |
Personnel
Eluveitie
- Chrigel Glanzmann – harsh vocals, harp, tin & low whistle, uilleann pipes, mandola, bodhrán
- Anna Murphy – clean vocals, harsh vocals in "The Siege" and "Meet the Enemy", hurdy-gurdy
- Kay Brem – bass guitar, Caesar's voice in "Havoc"
- Ivo Henzi – rhythm guitar
- Simeon Koch – lead guitar, mandola
- Patrick "Päde" Kistler – bagpipes, whistles
- Merlin Sutter – drums
- Meri Tadić – fiddles
Guests
- Alexander Morton – voice in the narrations of tracks 1, 11 & 17
- Nina Macchi – recorder in track 12
- Christoph Pelgen – gwerz vocals in track 6
- Fredy Schnyder – hammered dulcimer in tracks 4 & 7
- Sarah Wauquiez – zugerörgeli (helvetic accordion) in track 3
References
- "Nuclear Blast page". Retrieved August 14, 2013.
- "Blabbermouth release date". December 2, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
- Eck, Markus (2012). "Eluveitie: Großer Spannungsbogen". Sonic Seducer (in German). No. 3. Thomas Vogel Media e. K. pp. 42–43.
- Riedl, Katrin (28 February 2012). "Eluveitie – Helvetios". Metal Hammer (in German). Retrieved 11 March 2012.
- "Allmusic review".
- "A Review of Helvetios". dermetalkriger.com. 2012-03-21. Retrieved 2012-03-21.
- Isch, Stefan (2 February 2012). "Eluveitie - Helvetios". Stormbringer. The Austrian Heavyzine (in German). Retrieved 22 March 2012.
Ein Gesamtkunstwerk ist Helvetios allemal! [Helvetios is definitely a total work of art!]
- "Album Review: Eluveitie - Helvetios". Lambgoat. 2012-08-03. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
- "Peek from the Pit review". Archived from the original on 2012-05-21.
- "Swiss Charts".
- "Billboard / Eluveitie". Billboard. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
- "Chartverfolgung / Eluveitie / Longplay". musicline.de (in German). PHONONET GmbH. Archived from the original on 2016-09-27. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
- "Eluveitie: Helvetious [sic]" (in Finnish). IFPI Finland. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
- "Les classement des albums nouveautés. Semaine du 22/02/2010 au 28/02/2010". Disque en France (in French). SNEP. Archived from the original on 2012-06-29. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
- "Billboard / Eluveitie". Billboard. Retrieved 2012-03-08.