Eerie Sounds Review : Elane – “Arcane” (2011)

Label : Curzweyhl

Review by Luisa Mercier

“Arcane” is the fourth Elane release and its music is inspired by the work of Kai Meyer, a German fantasy author that has published more than 50 books since ’90s. Elane and Kai met at a concert in 2006 and both agreed that their books and music could be perfect together, so “Arcane” is inspired by his novels and characters. The themes are present both in music and lyrics so let’s start this journey! “The Gift” is a short atmospheric intro, while in “Heart of the Desert” we get a taste of Joran’s powerful vocals: the production quality is very high; just listen to acoustic guitar, keyboards and percussions. “Samarkand” has a strong Middle – Eastern influence and it marks a new influence in Elane‘s work, world music. In “Arcane Ride” you can hear all of the Elane influences combined together: folk and progressive mixed with Joran‘s beautiful voice. The transition from a passage to another are smoothly arranged through the use of violin. Similar structure for “Magdalena”, with sultry strings arrangement and choir in the background, one of the highlights of the album. The band does write also in other languages than English and “Wasser und Fels” and “Die Geheime Melodie” are two short example of German-titled instrumentals with tin-whistles, strings and Joran’s vocalise. Cello makes its first appearance in “My Ivory Fairy”, slow folk ballad with rich strings arrangements in the chorus. “Abendruf” is a mysterious song sung in German, while reminiscent of the band old works is the acoustic “Lurlinnlight”. Enriched with flute it sounds sweet and delicate. Another folk-Celtic instrumental follows “Spinnerhaus”, and then the Latin “Deae Noctis” adds a different flavor to the album, being gloomier and heavier, though the strings and Elane typical arrangements are still present. “Dammertal” is another piece in the puzzle of beautiful instrumentals, “Masken” is the only track sung by male vocals. Last song is “Goddess of the Night”, more pop-oriented than the others, but equally good. “Arcane” is definetely a good album which can be enjoyed by folk lovers, but also by people with a different taste in music.

Rating – 85/100

Tracklist

1. The Gift
   
2. Heart of the Desert
   
3. Samarkand
   
4. Arcane Ride
   
5. Magdalena
   
6. Wasser und Fels
   
7. Die Geheime Melodie
   
8. My Ivory Fairy
   
9. Abendruf
   
10. Lurlinnight
    
11. Spinnenhaus
    
12. Deae Noctis
    
13. Dammertal
    
14. Masken
    
15. Goddess of the Night 

Line Up

• Joran Elane – Vocals 
• Nico – Vocals & Keyboard 
• Skaldir – Vocals, Guitar & Keyboard 
  
• Simon – Cello, Clarinet & Violin 
  
• Katrin – Violin

Links

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