The Winter Wake [Enhanced, Extra tracks, Import]

Elvenking | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 3, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced, Extra tracks, Import
• Label: AFM
• ASIN: B000CEGW7O
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #224,315 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The Winter's Wake finds the return of Italy's widely popular Elvenking. Following the success of previous albums Heathenreel and Wyrd, the new album was recorded in Italy and mixed at Timo Tolkki (Stratovarious)- owned Sonic Pump Studios in Finland. Once again showcasing Elvenking's fresh and original sound, fusing enchanting melodies, heavy metal groove, catchy choruses and acoustic elements, The Winter's Wake finds further enrichment via the band's new line-up. The album finds more than ever a mature sound in what the band feels is their best material to date. Candlelight. 2006. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is FINE, FINE, power/folk metal!, August 30, 2006

By 

k93 - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Winter Wake (Audio CD)

Wow that is crazy, the last 2 Elvenking albums (Heathenreel and Wyrd) got 5 stars each, but why only 3 for this! Out of fairness, I had to put a 5 star review in here, cause two haters should not bring down this album's whole rating!

And now, on to the review. For those not familiar with Elvenking: this band is NOT like Finntroll. I love Finntroll, but I love a lot of other metal too. If you only like folk metal that has a lot of death and/or black mixed in, you will NOT like this. Don't buy it. However, if you like lighter folk metal (e.g. Korpiklaani, Skyclad, Otyg, later Cruachan, and the like) and *especially* if you also like power metal, then you will LOVE this. If you hate power metal, then don't buy it, because there's a fair amount of power influence in this band. If you don't mind power metal, give it a try. This is not very harsh stuff; but it is beautiful and absolutely excellent musicianship.

For those who are already familiar with their earlier albums Heathenreel and/or Wyrd, if you enjoy those albums, then you will like this one! It continues along the same vein, no significant musical changes to my ears.

Other points: the extra making of video is not that great, but it doesn't matter, the music itself is what you want to get this disc for. Also, whoever wrote the tracklisting made some mistakes. Most notably, track 12 is not "Penny's Rebel" but "Penny Dreadful", which is a quite good cover of the Skyclad song of the same name.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Album Seems To Be Very Underated!, March 25, 2007

By 

Metroid Fanatic - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Winter Wake (Audio CD)

Ok, I've been a fan of Elvenking for some time now. I love the Heathenreal album and Wyrd is great too. I would give both of those albums easily just under five stars each. I drop by Amazon after getting Winter's Wake to see what everyone else was saying about it and couldn't believe my eyes. Three stars? That's it? Something must have gone wrong here! First of all, the album is beyond excellent. Elvenking as always are nothing short of brilliant. Some of the earlier reviews on this album gave it a single star, I'm gonna have to cry foul. Anyone who would give this CD just a single star must have some sort of an agenda or something. The album is great, the musicianship is top notch. I couldn't imagine those earlier reviewers being big fans of the genre. I think it is more likely they were let down by their misguided expectations. Let's be honest here, yes this is folk oriented metal, it's heavy at times, light at others, and very power metal influenced. If you're expecting a lot of death flavor you won't find it here. What you will find is a great power metal band, with strong folk elements, and a little shamanic spirituality at times. Elvenking for the most part, has an uplifting sound and alot of toe tapping beats. Bottomline, if your a fan of bands like Blind Guardian, Rhapsody, Angra, Korpiklaani, or Pagans Mind, this band might just be for you. If you liked any of Elvenkings previous album, I don't think you will be let down here either. It's quite rare to find an album that actually deserves one star, just as it is rare to find an album wich is worth five. This album is at least 4.5 stars, I would normally round down, but because of the earlier seemingly biased reviews I felt compelled to give Elvenking a bit of extra credit. Anyway, check it out for yourself and enjoy!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Elvenking - The Winter Wake, June 12, 2008

By 

thepaxdomini "The Book Review" (Tulsa, OK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Winter Wake (Audio CD)

"The Winter Wake" (2006) is the third album from Italian folk/power metal band Elvenking. Elvenking, as usual, does a good job with the folk elements, including flutes, strings and acoustic guitars, and it makes the music interesting. There's a good variety of songs.

Elvenking's one weakness is their lead singer, who does fine on the occasions he goes for death-style vocals, but otherwise has a raspy, pretty un-melodic voice that one might expect on a punk or alternative rock album.

Overall this is a very solid power metal album with a strong folk element.