Reviewing an album as “Helvetios” is , it’s quite a job. The latest effort of the Swiss band appears, in fact, as an extremely complex and varied work, where history, tradition and emotion seem to merge into a single breath to establish the foundations of an album that will irremediably make history of the band, confirming it as mature and established. Under standing and explaining Helvetios, apart from its historical and cultural background, would be absolutely impossible, since both the music as the lyrics recount, acting as spokeperson, the events of the Gallic Wars step by step. From the first song to the last one, the listener is invited to be in these people shoes, people who lived the terrible devastation of these wars and revise, as in a film, the single bloodiest episodes that made the history. As a spectator and witness, the listener cannot afford a passive role and can’t avoid to dive in history as a judge and as a victim, sharing the hopes, disappointments, sufferings with the Gauls.
Like all the stories that have to be respected, the album starts with a prologue where the warm narrating and deep voice of the Scottish actor Morton Alexander (Valhalla Rising, Ed) introduces and anticipates what will be the content of the following songs. It’s so easy to close your eyes and to be lulled by the distinctive Scottish accent of this actor and his evocative words. We are faced with a survivor, a man who has experienced the devastation of War and he also carries the memory inside his mind and heart. No matter how many years have passed (it could be about forty years after the conquest of Gaul, as it could be now, the value of memory is universal), memories emerge in his mind very clearly and the songs of its people are still ringing in his ears. He’s ready to tell everything starting from the beginning. The first song (the titletrack of the album, Ed), puts us in front of the main characters of this story: the Helvetii. Introduced by the hurdy-gurdy which is immediately replaced by the guitars, Helvetios is a fast and powerful song, that reflects perfectly the proud of the people we’re mentioning. The War is still far away and the Helvetian people are introduced to us from those who are their beliefs and their traditions. Some choral parts and various items added to the frontman’s voice (Chrigel Glanzmann, Ed) aren’t missed, like to emphasize the communal nature which the part refers. And it’s the time for “Luxtos“, a track that is terribly catchy and very folk, that recalls some famous Breton dances and traditional melodies. This song will drive the old Eluveitie fans, the ones we used to know with ‘Spirit’, for its atmosphere that recalls “Uis Elveti“. Once again, the song is sung in the wonderful Gaulish language. With “Home“, we enter into the heart of the story: after the folk influences that Luxtos gave us, we face ourselves to a much more direct-sounding track, with heavy melodies, not without, however, a vein of melancholy. The relationship with neighboring populations are tense and the Helvetians realize that, if they want to avoid the War, they cannot live in the lands they’re used to live anymore. The only solution to avoid the War is to migrate to other lands and to abandon their own homes. “Santonian Shores” is a song full of hope and expectations that are reflected, musically, in a clearly warming song, where the hurdy-gurdy and the other folk instruments have a prominent role. It’s time to go: a single male voice sings an incredibly sad song, in the Gallic language that accompanies the final steps before the departure, it’s time to say goodbye to what have always been their own home and leaving for unknown places. “Scorched Earth” is an incredibly simple and sad song that makes us empathize and makes us share the feelings of all those people that are ready to abandon their homeland forever. But time for melancholy is quite a little: with the arrival of Roman avarice, the hopes of the Helvetii are misplaced and the previous melancholy cannot help but give way to anger. “Meet the Enemy” is one of the most violent and disaffected songs of the entire discography of the band. The fast-paced and decidedly rhetorical lyric make this one of the strengths of the album and a great song to play live. (To investigate the historical background of the song here would be far too long to explain, I refer you to the official explanation released by the band, Ed). And disappointment is the keyword for “Neverland“, in a full Eluveitie style, with a nice chorus and a strong presence of traditional instruments.. Leaving Neverland behind, , we reach one of the most controversial tracks of the album. “A rose for Epona” is a song you’ll love or hate. Definitely sounds closer to a pop song, characterized by the beautiful clean vocals done by Anna Murphy, it will turn the noses up at many of the fans of more traditional Swiss combo, and it will help to excite those who will approach without prejudices, ready to grasp the profound drama of the text and history. The following track, “Havoc“, is one of the most meaningful tracks of the album. Worthy of note is the excellent performance of Meri Tadic, perfect in what is probably the fastest violin share of the entire Eluveitie discography. The war was hopelessly extended to the whole Gaul, and the devastation wrought by the Romans has struck the Celts with no redress. We are face to face with an angry and energetic song that leaves no room for the resignation and acceptance. It follows “The Uprising“, another amazing song, that still recalls “Spirit” that sees the entrance of Vercingetorix, and “Hope“, a simple acoustic track with its drama that seems to anticipate the tragic outcome toward which we are moving through. And finally, we reach “The Siege“, a bitter song that goes straight to the point, that sees Anna Murphy as we had never heard, struggling with a scream, angry and violent. Dedicated to the Battle of Avaricum, it is probably one of the most brutal songs that the band has ever written. But these battles reveal more ruthless massacres. Overwhelmed in number and weak, the Gauls saw the end of all hope in the siege of the walled city of “Alesia“. The track dedicated to the irremediable defeat brings us again face to face with the clean singing done by Anna that, this time, leaves us chilly: the vocal lines are discounted and the extreme simplicity of the song makes it the weakest point of the album. ‘Alesia’ could be the twin sister of ‘A Rose for Epona’, featuring vocals from simple awareness of defeat, but it cannot catch us and makes us think of pop-rock influences, that has really nothing to do with Eluveitie. . “Tullianum“, brief narrated interlude, has the name of the Roman prison where Vercingetorix was imprisoned after being offered to Caesar in exchange for the life of the survivors at Alesia. A few seconds of agony to represent the suffering of many years, which ended with the ruthless execution of the Gallic chief for the celebrations in honor of the victory of Caesar: a few seconds of a track that leaves us with a bitter taste in mouth. We’re done with our journey, but Eluveitie has something more for us: “Uxellodunon“, the last track of the album, talks about the last revolt against the Roman empire to a small group of Gauls at the stronghold of the same name. Once again we are faced with a massacre without mercy ( the story tells that to all those who at that time took up arms against the Romans were, as a warning, severed hands, Ed ) but to tell this is a song that leaves no room for resignation or submission. Pride and inflexibility may be the key words of this song, featuring a nice catchy chorus. And with the voice of Alexander Morton the story ends: few words that, themself, worth the whole album, that fade away in a last dramatic whistle track, feat.
Orchestra and chorus. Is it already an hour gone? It doesn’t seem so, but yes, it is gone. Helvetios is a monumental album, it is solid, which manages to combine the depth of songwriting with a final effectively and directly product. For those who said that the band had not much to say within the genre. Probably the best folk metal album I’ve ever heard.
