Helvetios

Helvetios is the fifth full-length album by the Swiss folk metal band Eluveitie. The album was released February 10, 2012 through Nuclear Blast Records. The CD was recorded at New Sound Studio in Pfäffikon, a municipality in the canton of Zurich in Switzerland, with producer Tommy Vetterli. It was the last album to include violinist Meri Tadić and guitarist Simeon Koch.

Helvetios
Studio album by Eluveitie
Released	February 10, 2012
Recorded	2011 at New Sound Studio, Pfäffikon[1]
Genre	Folk metal, melodic death metal, Celtic metal
Length	59:12
Label	Nuclear Blast
Producer	Tommy Vetterli,[2] Eluveitie
Eluveitie chronology
Everything Remains (As It Never Was) (2010) Helvetios (2012) Origins (2014)
Singles from Helvetios
"Meet the Enemy" Released: January 17, 2012

Concept

Being the band's first concept album, it focuses on the Gallic Wars from a perspective of the ancient Helvetians.[3][4]

Style

The album features melodic death metal combined with Celtic folk music instruments like fiddle, hurdy-gurdy, flutes, whistles, bagpipes, mandola, bodhran, and hammered dulcimer. Band member Anna Murphy has been more involved in songwriting and has been given more vocal parts than on previous releases.[3]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[5]
Der Metal Krieger	[6]
Metal Hammer (Germany)	6/7[4]
Sonic Seducer	very favourable[3]
Stormbringer	[7]
Lambgoat	[8]
Peek from the Pit	[9]

Helvetios received favourable professional reviews in Germany with the Sonic Seducer magazine calling the album "pure efficiency (pure Effizienz)."[3] The German edition of Metal Hammer lauded the tracks "Meet The Enemy", "Neverland" and "The Siege" for their aggressive Metal style and concluded that Eluveitie's musical virtues were being continued on this album.[4] A review by the Austrian Stormbringer compared the track "The Siege" to Sepultura's style and called the album a "piece of art."[7]

Chart performance

The album reached the top ten album charts in Switzerland and the Top Heatseekers of the United States.

Charts	Peak position
SWI[10]	4
CAN[11]	73
GER[12]	27
FIN[13]	47
FRA[14]	81
Billboard USA[15]	143
Heatseekers USA[15]	3

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Chrigel Glanzmann, except "Home" co-written by Anna Murphy.

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Prologue"	Glanzmann	1:24
2.	"Helvetios"	Glanzmann Ivo Henzi Murphy	4:00
3.	"Luxtos"	Glanzmann Henzi Meri Tadić	3:56
4.	"Home"	Glanzmann	5:16
5.	"Santonian Shores"	Glanzmann Henzi Murphy	3:58
6.	"Scorched Earth"	Glanzmann	4:18
7.	"Meet the Enemy"	Glanzmann Henzi	3:46
8.	"Neverland"	Glanzmann Henzi Murphy Tadić	3:42
9.	"A Rose for Epona"	Glanzmann Henzi Murphy	4:26
10.	"Havoc"	Glanzmann Henzi Murphy	4:05
11.	"The Uprising"	Glanzmann Henzi	3:41
12.	"Hope"	Glanzmann	2:27
13.	"The Siege"	Glanzmann Henzi Murphy	2:44
14.	"Alesia"	Glanzmann Henzi Murphy	3:58
15.	"Tullianum"	Glanzmann	0:24
16.	"Uxellodunon"	Henzi Murphy Tadić	3:51
17.	"Epilogue"	Glanzmann	3:16
Total length:			59:12

Limited edition bonus track

No.	Title	Music	Length
18.	"A Rose for Epona" (acoustic version)	Glanzmann Henzi Murphy	3:49
Total length:			63:01

Limited Edition Bonus DVD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"A Rose for Epona" (Video Clip)
2.	"Havoc" (Video Clip)
3.	"A Rose for Epona" (Making Of)
4.	"Havoc" (Making Of)
5.	"A Closer Look at the Lyrics" (...In Conversation with a Scientist)
6.	"Live at Feuertanz Festival 2010" (4 Songs Live)
Total length:		93:00

Personnel

Eluveitie

• Chrigel Glanzmann – harsh vocals, harp, tin & low whistle, uilleann pipes, mandola, bodhrán
• Anna Murphy – clean vocals, harsh vocals in "The Siege" and "Meet the Enemy", hurdy-gurdy
• Kay Brem – bass guitar, Caesar's voice in "Havoc"
• Ivo Henzi – rhythm guitar
• Simeon Koch – lead guitar, mandola
• Patrick "Päde" Kistler – bagpipes, whistles
• Merlin Sutter – drums
• Meri Tadić – fiddles

Guests

• Alexander Morton – voice in the narrations of tracks 1, 11 & 17
• Nina Macchi – recorder in track 12
• Christoph Pelgen – gwerz vocals in track 6
• Fredy Schnyder – hammered dulcimer in tracks 4 & 7
• Sarah Wauquiez – zugerörgeli (helvetic accordion) in track 3

References

1. "Nuclear Blast page". Retrieved August 14, 2013.
2. "Blabbermouth release date". December 2, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
3. Eck, Markus (2012). "Eluveitie: Großer Spannungsbogen". Sonic Seducer (in German). No. 3. Thomas Vogel Media e. K. pp. 42–43.
4. Riedl, Katrin (28 February 2012). "Eluveitie – Helvetios". Metal Hammer (in German). Retrieved 11 March 2012.
5. "Allmusic review".
6. "A Review of Helvetios". dermetalkriger.com. 2012-03-21. Retrieved 2012-03-21.
7. Isch, Stefan (2 February 2012). "Eluveitie - Helvetios". Stormbringer. The Austrian Heavyzine (in German). Retrieved 22 March 2012. Ein Gesamtkunstwerk ist Helvetios allemal! [Helvetios is definitely a total work of art!]
8. "Album Review: Eluveitie - Helvetios". Lambgoat. 2012-08-03. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
9. "Peek from the Pit review". Archived from the original on 2012-05-21.
10. "Swiss Charts".
11. "Billboard / Eluveitie". Billboard. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
12. "Chartverfolgung / Eluveitie / Longplay". musicline.de (in German). PHONONET GmbH. Archived from the original on 2016-09-27. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
13. "Eluveitie: Helvetious [sic]" (in Finnish). IFPI Finland. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
14. "Les classement des albums nouveautés. Semaine du 22/02/2010 au 28/02/2010". Disque en France (in French). SNEP. Archived from the original on 2012-06-29. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
15. "Billboard / Eluveitie". Billboard. Retrieved 2012-03-08.