{"id":70488,"date":"2018-07-13T00:00:43","date_gmt":"2018-07-13T00:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=70488"},"modified":"2018-07-20T00:51:32","modified_gmt":"2018-07-20T00:51:32","slug":"album-review-elvenstorm-the-conjuring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-elvenstorm-the-conjuring\/","title":{"rendered":"ELVENSTORM – The Conjuring (2018) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

ELVENSTORM
The Conjuring<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nMassacre (2018)<\/span>
Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s album number three from French metallers Elvenstorm. The Conjuring<\/em> has been three years in the making after 2015\u2019s Soulreaper<\/em> EP, and it\u2019s a record you\u2019ll enjoy if you\u2019re a fan of this rather glossy, well-produced metal.<\/p>\n

Elvenstorm are very much a contemporary heavy metal band, having formed in 2008, but they still offer plenty of meat in the axe and percussive attacks \u2013 opener \u2018Bloodlust\u2019 begin a fast-paced, energetic metal bone shaker with plenty of vibrancy and a commanding chanted chorus.<\/p>\n

My only issue with these guys right from the start has been the vocals of Laura Lombard F. Although I like her as a singer, she just seems to lack the oomph required to match the guile and fleshy force of the rest of the band. Laura just isn\u2019t a powerhouse of a vocalist, and it\u2019s immediately apparent on that thrashy opener and throughout as the rest of the members rush through such hasty highlights as \u2018Into The Night\u2019, \u2018Evil\u2019s Dawn\u2019 and \u2018Dawn Of Destruction\u2019 \u2013 all rather frantic expressions screaming out for a fleshier vocal tone.<\/p>\n

Laura does come into her own on some of the steadier grooves. For instance, on \u2018Ritual Of Summoning\u2019 she seems to find an inner fire rarely present elsewhere on the record. Although her vocals tend to be of a higher pitch, Laura really should emit a few more scowls too to create a darker edge. However, The Conjuring<\/em> is still a steady Goth-laced heavy metal opus moulded by Micha\u00ebl Hellstr\u00f6m\u2019s sturdy axe work and Antoine Bussi\u00e8re\u2019s bony skin slams.<\/p>\n

Other positives are the mid-paced strides of \u2018Stellar Descension\u2019 which also features an almost black metal-styled flicker of energy, while \u2018Cross Of Damnation\u2019 begins with a subtle trickle before the members join to create a blistering attack. And that\u2019s what I like about this record \u2013 it\u2019s simple ability to carve out huge lumps of molten metal. Sure, it\u2019s clean-cut and precise which at times can overwhelm any flicker of rawness or looseness, but if you\u2019re after ten solid fireballs to chew on then spit out then you could do far worse.<\/p>\n

The Conjuring<\/em> does offer that glint of modern metal steel we can all appreciate; it doesn\u2019t feel mechanical and it will get heads banging because it\u2019s jam-packed full of killer melodies and metallic bursts of speed that can\u2019t really be argued with. However, I\u2019d still like to hear more emphasis on vocal prowess and maybe less sheen throughout.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ELVENSTORMThe Conjuring Massacre (2018)Rating: 7\/10 Here\u2019s album number three from French metallers Elvenstorm. The Conjuring has been three years in the making after 2015\u2019s Soulreaper EP, and it\u2019s a record you\u2019ll enjoy if you\u2019re a fan of this rather glossy, well-produced metal. Elvenstorm are very much a contemporary heavy metal band, having formed in 2008, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,4038],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-elvenstorm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70488"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70492,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70488\/revisions\/70492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}