ELUVEITIE - Vên (2004)

I decided I did need to do a post about Vên after all, being such an apparently devoted fan and all.  And I had to listen to all of its versions.

For the purposes of this post, if I just mention Vên, I'm referring to the EP released (to a very limited audience) in 2004.  It exists only on YouTube and the like for us digital people, and apparently the physical versions are also very hard to find.  The "other versions" of songs that I'll mention include: 

- the "Demo," also via YouTube, is the original 2003 version of Vên.  It featured incarnations of all the same songs that later ended up on the 2004 EP.  At this point in time Eluveitie was a "studio project" rather than a band.  I amuse myself imagining Chigrel playing everything himself in a cramped attic somewhere, although I do believe that there were some session musicians involved.

- the Early Years, mentioned in previous posts, is the compilation released in 2012 that includes, among other things, re-recordings of everything from Vên.

Vên-era band lineup includes... uh, Chigrel and a bunch of guys, very few of whom stuck around.  However, Sevan and Meri were already on board.  Brief period in time during which Eluveitie was a dectet, including two violinists and a bouzouki player!

Track One:  "D’vêritû Agâge D’bitu"

So, as an introduction to this weird project... this seems pretty thorough.  I'm only okay with the portentious narration, but at least it introduces the use of Gaulish.  Then we have a decently catchy chant leading us into a striking main melody* played on pipe, presumably by Chigrel, so it's thoroughly folk, and features our main man.  Then we have one of those big "drop" moments at 1:25 in which unmistakably heavy metal guitar joins in with the flute.  Okay, this is FUCKING FOLK METAL.  No unclean death growls, but otherwise, the track basically encapsulates what Eluveitie is about and builds anticipation.  So, good stuff.

Other versions:  On the Demo, the chanting sounds a lot more half-hearted here, doesn't it?  And the guitar is less powerful too.  Just not as much punch.  On the other side of the coin, The Early Years quickly becomes clear that all of the chorus stuff will have more of a female edge, and that a main agenda with this project will be to work in Anna as much as possible.  Can't blame them.  The difference in production is so stark - note how crisp the drums are, and how BIG the sound is when the metal comes in.

Track Two:  "Uis Elveti"

Here's where things maybe go bit awry for me.  Despite a nice hurdy gurdy intro.  Listening to the song, I have to suppress the urge to laugh a little once the vocals come in.  Rather than powerful, the growls honestly sound kinda ridiculous, especially being buried in the mix.  On "D’vêritû" the folk and the metal comfortably coexist, whereas here you have them at war with each other, a bunch of noises all shouting to be heard.  Listening to the song, I almost wondered why I enjoyed it so much on the debut record, as here it's just an endless series of repetitions broken up by some nicer passages in which the hurdy or the flute get a brief chance to shine.

Other versions:  The Demo, oddly, is a little better for me than the final version; there's less going on and you can hear the most important parts better.  In any case, both Vêns utterly pale in comparison to what ended up on Spirit.  Is this purely an effect of production, or do I need to give more credit to Ivo, and Merlin to a lesser degree, for their performance?  Because as much as I complained when I listened to Spirit about the vocals not being loud enough, everything is crystal clear by comparison to Vên... and rather than being repetitions, the rhythm guitar has a legit groove.  Comment threads tell me that some people do prefer the rawness of Vên.  Okay, but... I guess you do you, but I can't see how.  The Spirit version is an actual song that sounds like music.  As far as The Early Years goes, it's actually more similar to the way they played it on Spirit than I thought.  Plus for more Anna on gurdy and vocals.  But minus for not opening with the yell of "Elveite!" the way every other version does.  Why wouldn't you include the most defining moment of the song? 

Track Three:  "Ôrô"

Three tracks, two mostly instrumentals.  Huh.  This is a bagpipe passage played over thunderstorm sound effects.  As far as the storm goes, a building storm is a background element of the first three tracks... and then Vên just kind of stops doing that, making it seem like a waste.  As far as the pipes, it's pretty nice.  

I should probably mention Dide Marfurt here, one of the many bandmembers who didn't stick around long enough to record anything else with Eluveitie.  Dide was the original hurdy gurdy player (because obviously Eluveitie can't exist without a dedicated gurdyist.  Right?  Right?**).  Just seeing from web searching that he's considerably older than Chigrel and that has had a prolific career, my narrative is that Dide had the folk music cred to both give the band some legitimacy and to act as a mentor figure to the younger guys.  This is completely made up, but that's my story, and I'm sticking with it.  Anyway, Dide also played a few winds and pipes, and this all-bagpipe track is basically his.  I like it fine for what it is.

Other versions:  Well, they suffer from not having Dide and his tune.  Vên sounds more like a French horn than anything else for its first half, and then gets unpleasantly dissonant.   The Early Years starts the same and then has a shorter Chigrel bagpipe piece.  Neither has the heft of what we hear on Vên.

Track Four: "Lament"

I like leaning into the dueling violins, but I can't support the intro's decision to lean on the "boing boing" sounds.  I don't care what tradition they may come from, a 21st century ear will hear them as comedy boings.  Anyway, "Lament" tries pairing a very lively violin melody with the most aggressive blackened death metal track on the EP, down to bassist Gian Albertin taking lead vocals.  The result... more loud cacophony.  As much as folk and metal go together, one could be forgiven for thinking it's a horrible mismatch from the way the repetitious guitars bury everything whilst the vocals become incomprehensible tuneless screaming.  When people accuse the band's metal parts of being uninspiring, especially when they make it sound like it's a new development,  I'd argue that was a problem more early.  Here the guitar and drums are literally one note, pounding the same thing over and over.

There's something here, though.  It is indeed a great violin part, with support from the winds, can't be denied.  The lyrics are barbed in a way we don't often get with this band, really serving the role of a voice from the Helvetian past commenting on our world ("What if there would not be a state church/ Built upon hypocrisy, instead of faith?"  Oof.).  "Lament" as presented here doesn't quite work, but one can see how it easily could work. 

Other versions:  Having Chigrel singing doesn't make the Demo version sound much better than Gian's version, although at least it's a little clearer***.  On the other hand, The Early Years take made me flat out grin.  Crisp production actually makes it clear what's happening, Chigrel sings the words**** with real passion.  Even little touches like the rather cool bass bit in between verses (it was there on Vên, but it actually sounds good now) part has a little more space to shine.  I can't quite describe how nice it is, having spent some time with the original, to see this little track that could finally come into its own.  It sounds like Eluveitie now.  Weep for your land!

Track Five:  "Druid"

Oh look, it's the same pulsating attempt at a blast-beat from the "metal" guys that every single goddamn track on the EP has.  Another nice folk melody fights to be heard through the cacophony, and is it ever a relief when the song goes to its bridge at about two minutes in when that crappy garage band playing next door takes a brief break so we can hear the folk band.  "Druid" is about as close as Vên gets to a pop song, by which I mean that I can actually understand most of the lyrics and its second half features some group vocals that resemble clean singing.  Knowing my peccadillos, how could this not be my favorite track on the EP?  

As the narrator turns his meditation on "mysteries of mysteries" into a life philosophy (and brings back the mysteries at the very end), the song goes through a few movements, reminding me that this era of Eluveitie had some proggy aspirations that they largely left behind.  "Druid" has some interesting bits, although I don't know if they add up to more than "hey, here's some Maiden-esque triplets!"

Other versions:  Demo version is pretty rough; in particular not the most polished of vocal performances.  My initial impression of the Demo was that the production rendered it unlistenable, but now this is the only track I'd still apply that adjective to. 

As far The Early Years, well, "Druid" needs the least work to sound like 2012-era Eluveitie.  I can't piece apart what instrument is playing what, but the intro becomes a really nice collection of the folk instruments.  Ivo once again does a good job making the riffs swing, such that the guitar is driving the song rather than just kind of sitting there.  The second half is improved by having the group vox and death vox coexist.  Even though I have little doubt that this version is better, because it sounds so much like latter-day Eluveitie, it feels somehow less ambitious than the track did on the Vên EP.  Maybe because there it was a highlight whereas here it's surrounded by a bunch of songs that have been elevated to its level?

Track Six:  "Jêzaïg"

A couple of Scottish melodies (per Reddit, at least) bring us to a slow instrumental that somehow manages to be the second longest track here.  We get that I really like this band, right?  Well, hopefully it will be understood that I make no attempt to troll or be contrary when I describe "Jêzaïg" as sounding less like a piece of music and more like a cat being tortured.  And there're some guitars that seem to randomly start and stop to play exactly the same notes as the winds, punctuated a few times by a guy going "yaaaargh!"  The track isn't devoid of good ideas.  It is, however, an absolute earsore.  Someone at some point must have recognized that this isn't good, right?  Total mess. 

Other versions:  I don't really have much to say about the Vên Demo take on the same instrumental.  The Early Years also, of course, features the piece.  When in doubt, having Anna sing and gurdy more will probably make your song better.  The re-recording puts the folk melody heavier in the mix, probably a good idea, and goes hard away from the high pitched winds, which are still there but sound cleaner and more musical than the original.  Don't know if it has any business being five minutes long, but I ain't mad at the tune anymore.

Bonus track or whatever:  "Divico"

Annoyingly, they decided to make this one rare so it could only be downloaded as part of ordering The Early Years or picked up at their gigs or something.  Or YouTube, of course.  The story, best I can tell, is that Chigrel was working on the song around the time of Vên, didn't finish it to his satisfaction, and then had another go at the thing in concert with the The Early Years project.  So, although it's kinda sorta an old song, most of "Divico" was written closer to 2012 than 2002, as will be immediately obvious from listening.  Many comments compare the rhythm to something like "Thousandfold," and I guess I can't deny that the verses are pretty much standard-issue Eluveitie.  Is that actually a bad thing, though?  I do like the chorus, especially the back and forth between Chigrel and the backup choir of Annas as the song's protagonist reflects on life lived and on aging.  Overall impression for now is solid mid-tier, like an album track.  But there's an outside chance that "Divico" will grow on me more if I give it a bunch more time - I will try to do so, just in case. 

Other thoughts:

I could judge "Vên" in comparison to the band's later work in which case, I have to say, I'm sorry, but it's just not as good.  I can see why someone's tastes in metal might lead one to think that Eluveitie peaked with Spirit - I would disagree - whereas I'm having a hard time seeing "Vên" as that sort of highlight.  The songcraft isn't quite there yet, and whether it be producers or just better musicians, the "metal" side of the band is noisy and inert rather than, you know, really rocking.  

Or I could judge Vên as a proof of concept.  Can an eight-plus piece band play Celtic folk and death metal at the same time without compromising on either?  Well, Vên isn't quite it, but it does offer a convincing roadmap how "it" could be done.  There are some quality bits there.  The Early Years gives one a chance to hear them played out, as songs that'd be at home on Helvetios.

 

Favorite track (on the original EP):  "Druid"

Runner up:  "D’vêritû Agâge D’bitu"

Least favorite:  "Jêzaïg"

Rating:  2.5/5

Definitive running list of records by Eluveitie and Cellar Darling that I have listened to so far, in order of what I have decided is unambiguously their quality

1)  Origins

2)  Everything Remains (As It Never Was)

3)  Slania

4)  Ategnatos

5)  Helvetios

6)  Spirit

7)  Evocation I - The Arcane Dominion

8)  Evocation II - Pantheon

9)  This Is The Sound [Cellar Darling] 

10)  Vên

I still do plan to write about Cellar Darling's The Spell, and then to do a big Eluveitie odds-and-ends post bringing us up to the present day.  Well, whenever I get around to it!

 

 

*Yes, this tune would later also form the basis for "Ne Regv Na" (from Evocation I).  No, I would not have remembered that if I hadn't read it.

**This aside was clearly written in the immediate aftermath of learning that Eluveitie no longer has a full-time gurdy player, as of late 2024.

***I guess I should acknowledge the incredibly mundane point that the passage that bridges tracks three and four is part of "Ôrô" on the Demo whereas it's part of "Lament" on the subsequently released versions.  Do with this vitally important piece of information as you see fit.

****Plus a few new ones