Stuck In My Skull 507 -- "A Rose for Epona" [Symphonic Metal Week IV]

Symphonic Metal Week IV || Song: "A Rose for Epona" || Eluveitie || http://youtu.be/_1lXdLus2WI || 

Comments: Hello everyone and welcome to Symphonic Metal Week IV! It's been awhile since I've had enough material to pound out five entries in a row, let alone a theme week, and boy have I missed it. Without further ado, let's jump right in! Today's entry comes to us from Eluveitie, a Swiss folk metal band with a penchant for singing in Gaulish, although this song is in English. And oh, those lyrics. Not only are the lyrics pretty awesome in their own right, lead vocalist Anna Murphy delivers them with one hell of a kick. It's difficult to describe exactly what quality she possesses that makes the vocals she delivers so powerful, but if I had to draw some sort of comparison, I'd say Anna Murphy sounds like a mixture of Tarja Turunen (first vocalist of Nightwish, known for insane operatic vocals) and Dolores O'Riordan (lead singer of The Cranberries, just go listen to "Zombie" if you don't remember what she sounds like). Even such a comparison really doesn't do her justice, but it'll just have to do. Behind her vocals are are some impressive low vocals delivered by bagpiper/whistler Chigral Glanzmann, which combine to create a 'beauty and the beast' contrast effect of impressive magnitude. I mean really, really impressive. I haven't seen a contrast that well done since I first heard Epica's combination of  Simone Simons and Mark Jansen. And yes, I just said that Eluveitie's grunt vocalist also plays bagpipes, whistles, and some instruments I've never even heard of. Eluveitie's lineup of folk instruments is mind-blowing and perfectly utilized. In one song, this band has completely sold me on folk metal. Well done, Eluveitie, well done. Check back tomorrow for the next entry!