Witness the rebirth of ancient mythology and Pagan belief when Swiss metal nobility Eluveitie bring their new album, 'Ategnatos', to Australia in May.
Released in April, 'Ategnatos' is titled after the Gaulish word for 'reborn' and sees Eluveitie return to metal for the first time in five years since 'Origins' [2014], and after the acoustic detours of 'Evocation I: The Arcane Dominion' [2009] and 'Evocation II: Pantheon' [2017].
On 'Ategnatos', vocalist and songwriter Chrigel Glanzmann says the band as a whole has delved into the concept of 'rebirth' as it pertains to the myths and beliefs of Pagan and Celtic spirituality. “What the album basically does is to contemplate ancient parables and allegories of Celtic mythology from the viewpoint of our modern, everyday lives,” Chrigel explains.
“What we did is not to deal with these ancient words as a band for lyrics, but we actually contemplated these ancient words as individuals for ourselves and for our lives, and that turned out to become a very intense experience actually, almost a spiritual one. It was pretty intense and actually the result of that is the album.”
In exploring the Celtic interpretation of 'rebirth', Chrigel strikes a severe definition between it and the way the concept is considered by Christianity in the West, or Buddhism and Hinduism in the East. “Within all these ancient parables there's always this core that's in one way or another circling around the thought of rebirth,” he says.
“Not in a Hinduistic way, not thinking of an afterlife or something like that, but more in a sense of an experience that you make during your life... to have the chance to become something new and always having in mind that there always must be the death and the dying before there can be a rebirth.”
Though Chrigel dismisses the suggestion the new album also serves a dual purpose as a rebirth for Eluveitie as a band, he does say that writing and recording 'Ategnatos' proved to be a far more inclusive and cohesive group effort compared to previous releases.
“When recording it, nearly the whole time during production almost the full band was there, just to be there and be part of it and support the others,” he says.
“All day long in every corner of the studio band members were sitting together and discussing some details or just jamming together, and out of this a lot of things arose that actually made it onto the album.”
Australian fans get a long-awaited live taste of Eluveitie in May when they tour nationally in support of 'Ategnatos', performing two-hour sets spanning a vast discography established over their 17-year history. “Basically, we can't wait to finally come back; it's been too long and it's definitely time to come back,” Chrigel says.
“Regarding the two-hour set, there's quite a few things to catch up on with you guys; since the last time we played in Australia we have released two albums, so there's quite a few things to catch up with. So we kind of have to play two hours at least,” he laughs.
'Ategnatos' is available now.
Eluveitie Tour Australia 2019
Wed 15 May - The Gov (Adelaide)Thu 16 May - Manning Bar (Sydney)
Fri 17 May - The Zoo (Brisbane)
Sat 18 May - Croxton Bandroom (Melbourne)
Sun 19 May - Rosemount Hotel (Perth)
