We are relieved to finally be able to announce the Vinyl Anniversary Editions of three of our most important albums. 20 years (“Heathenreel”) and 15 years (“The Winter Wake” and “The Scythe“) after the original releases. They were all remastered by Jacob Hansen (Amaranthe, Volbeat, Pretty Maids) and now come as colored Vinyl „Anniversary Editions“
„Heathenreel“:
* Oxblood 2-Vinyl (ltd. to 100 units; AFM Shop-exclusive)
* Clear Orange 2-Vinyl (ltd. To 300 units)
* Light Green 2-Vinyl
„The Winter Wake“:
* Orange/Yellow Marbled 2-Vinyl (ltd. to 100 units; AFM Shop-exclusive)
* Milky white 2-Vinyl (ltd. To 300 units)
* Sky Blue 2-Vinyl
„The Scythe“:
* GREEN/WHITE 2-Vinyl (ltd. to 100 units; AFM Shop-exclusive)
* Black&Red colourcircle e 2-Vinyl (ltd. To 300 units)
* Clear Red 2-Vinyl
Order here :
– https://www.backstagerockshop.com/collections/elvenking
– https://shop.afm-records.de/elvenking/
“Heathenreel”(originally released in 2001) is definitely our most important album. The Album that started our journey in metal. The Album that defined our place in the world and our sound which we used to define “Folk Aggressive Metal”. The Album we made with the biggest passion and that is well cast in the memory of the metal fans of those years. A really important debut and our mission statement.
“The Winter Wake” (originally released in 2006) was a turning point in our career. Still our most successful album to date, this is an album born after a storming series of events that made Elvenking mature and diverge from a series of errors and ill-fated choices that were destroying the band instead of making it nurture and bloom.
“The Scythe” (originally released in 2007) Definitely the most controversial album of our career. The most criticized. The most hated at first (but later revalidated). What made this album so debatable? The first reason was of course the fact that we hardened our sound and we tried a different approach with the violin – being it used more as an arrangement than a solo instrument – and this led to an inevitable diminishment of the folk side of our music. Of course, this hasn’t been totally accepted by a big slice of our fanbase and it brought tons of harsh comments and reviews. Still, “The Scythe” contains what is probably Elvenking’s most recognizable song “The Divided Heart” and, despite some unhappy choices (like modern sounding keyboards..?!), this is an album that defined one of the multiple layers that later defined Elvenking’s sound through the years. As for the previous two Anniversary editions, we have chosen some of the answers we gave at the time in various interviews. As you will see, some were pretty inflamed! In fact, despite having been among the very first folk metal bands and originators of this sound in the late 90s (embodying the great lesson from British masters Skyclad) we kind of felt like this was not recognized enough by the audience and by the press and we were witnessing the rising success of other younger bands playing the same musical style. A certain kind of frustration led us wanting to prove to ourselves we were able to write great music also following our other influences, still maintaining the quality we were always searching for.
