Elvenking (IT)

About

Twelve studio albums in and still going strong, Elvenking have spent nearly three decades refining one of metal's most distinctive blends: the bombast of power metal woven together with folk music traditions from across the world. The Italian band from Sacile got their sound locked in early, drawing on influences ranging from Blind Guardian and Helloween to Skyclad, and their 2001 debut Heathenreel set the template. Clean vocals sit at the centre, though the arrangements lean on violin and keyboard to give the folk textures real depth. Their 2014 album The Pagan Manifesto was a deliberate return to that rootsy folk metal feel, and it even features "King of the Elves", a sprawling 13 minute track that weaves in material from their very first record. More recently, Elvenking launched an ambitious trilogy of concept albums under the Reader of the Runes banner, with the first instalment dropping in 2019.