Metal Hammer (UK)

Cellar Darling

THIS IS THE SOUND

- Former Eluveitie members form a new battle clan SOPHIE MAUGHAN

This Swiss storytelli­ng trio was conceived following their departure from Eluveitie last year. Granted, some fans may have considered the decision to tread their own path as bold, but adversity has ultimately served as the catalyst behind their debut album’s innate passion and sonic grandiosit­y. There’s a striking simplicity to opener Avalanche in terms of its repeated refrains and structure, but it’s difficult not to be entranced by Anna Murphy’s ethereal vocals alongside those earthy, rousing tones of the omnipresen­t hurdy-gurdy. Brief flashes of modern rock surface amid lush atmospheri­cs and slower passages with the Museesque Fire, Wind & Earth, while Starcrushe­r’s riff-driven fuzz punctuates the emotional grandeur upon which this record is built. The sumptuous

and battle-cry lyrics of songs like lead single Challenge (‘I know I’ll bring you down, to your knees at last’) and Black Moon conjure up tales of sword-wielding and the mystical – the very reinventio­n of folk stories for today’s age. This is the sound of bombastic potential.

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