ELVENKING Release Eighth Studio Album ‘The Pagan Manifesto’
May 9th, 2014
Italian power / folk metal group Elvenking issued eighth studio full-length album The Pagan Manifesto in Europe on May 9th, 2014 through AFM Records. The label also scheduled North American release for May 23rd, while Japanese release occurred on July 23rd via Rubicon Music.
Elvenking entered Domination Studios in San Marino, California on December 16th, 2013 to begin recording. Guitarist Aydan completed tracking rhythm guitars on the 20th, subsequently tracking all of his solos and leads by the 22nd. Fellow guitarist Rafahel completed tracking all of his solos and leads on the 27th. Mixing and mastering responsibilities fell to Simone Mularoni.
Cover artwork duties were overseen by Gyula Havancsák, who previously designed cover artworks for the records The Winter Wake (2006), The Scythe (2007), and Two Tragedy Poets (2008).
Elvenking vocalist Davide ‘Damna’ Moras issued the following statement: “It is always very easy to talk about ‘the last album’. To say how cool it is, how the band has improved and created better music, better lyrics and so on.
“This new Elvenking album is something completely different, though. We are not talking about a simple new album with a bunch of new songs. We are talking about something bigger. It is a piece of life… of our life, but also our fans’ life. It is the Elven dream come true. It is our ultimate manifesto where music, lyrics and spirit unite. It’s not just about music… there’s a whole concept behind this album… It’s like when stars align, you know? And this time we are ready! But we’ll talk about it more specifically very soon.”
Guitarist Aydan shared the following words, meanwhile: “I consider this album to be the closest to the original conceptual idea of the band.
“When we founded Elvenking, our idea was to mix up strong epic and intense music with influences from folklore and with lyrics based on our personal idea of life and what we consider as a personal sort of paganism. Through the years, we moved steps away from our original path in search of new stimuli and way to express ourselves as songwriters, but now we want to carve the word Elvenking in our music and idea where the origins of our band are.”
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The track listing was as follows;
01. ‘The Manifesto’
02. ‘King Of The Elves’
03. ‘Elvenlegions’
04. ‘The Druid Ritual Of Oak’
05. ‘Moonbeam Stone Circle’
06. ‘The Solitaire’
07. ‘Towards The Shores’
08. ‘Pagan Revolution’
09. ‘Grandier’s Funeral Pyre’
10. ‘Twilight Of Magic’
11. ‘Black Roses For The Wicked One’
12. ‘Witches Gather’
A music video was filmed for the track ‘Elvenlegions’. ‘King Of The Elves’ featured a guest vocal appearance by Amanda Somerville (Kiske / Somerville), meanwhile.
Seventh studio full-length album Era was released in September 2012 through AFM Records.
