01. Dawnmelting 02. The Last Hour 03. Silence de Mort 04. The Cabal 05. Runereader 06. Possession 07. Your Heroes Are Dead 08. Those Days 09. This Nightmare Will Never End 10. What's Left of Me 11. The Play of the Leaves

Verdict: 7

Elvenking Red Silent Tides Review

Red Silent Tides is the sixth album by the Italian folk metallers Elvenking. They are part of a movement that is filled to the brink with extremely cheesy bands stuck on hobbit gamers that just love anything resembling the soundtrack to their favorite turn-based computer game. It so just happens to be World of Warcraft ninety percent of the time. Influences could be progressive rock bands like Kansas and Dream Theater but just as well modern symphonic metal bands like Nightwish and Amorphis.

After the first listen absolutely nothing had changed, we are dead set to slash the album. There is a softer side to Elvenking that surprised us a bit though most of the folk genre bands tend to border to power metal straight off. The focus seem to be on melodies and these guys as absolutely ruthless when it comes to compose efficient songs. The play their hearts out like they are the only guys around capable of writing a song.

After a few listens we actually have become quite fond of Red Silent Tides. The romantic touch of the band surely will touch on with the fans in the later teens and we believe that this album will help Elvenking to build a hardcore following. This is definitely their best album to date.

The tracks "The last hour" and "The Cabal" stand out as extra everything on an album that is even and strong.