Eluveitie (special guests: Ad Infinitum, Infected Rain)
Tuesday, 11 February 2025
Ljubljana / CUK Kino Šiška / Slovenia
Eluveitie are one of those — how do you put it — generational bands that have really taken hold with metal crowds over the past decade. Relentless touring, including appearances at Europe’s biggest festivals, has cemented and expanded their name, and the band has diligently and persistently built up its look and stage persona, largely thanks to the colorful arsenal of instruments they haul onto stages (alongside the standard two electric guitars, drums, and bass) as well as their stage costumes. Thundering riffs enthusiastically balanced against rustling Celtic folk melodies — occasionally with symphonic touches — combined with angelic female vocals contrasted against the growl of the octet’s frontman, flute player and lutenist Chrigel Glanzmann, has proven to be a winning formula. With the fairytale-telling, the delving into mysteries, the revival of fables and legends that comes with all that ceremonial pomp, success was really always in the cards.
There’s a wild memory from early February 2009, when we caught the band — completely unprepared — on the way back from Belgrade, where we’d seen Iron Maiden the day before, at the Boogaloo in Zagreb (the day after they also stopped by Maribor in Slovenia). Back then, Eluveitie were still playing as the opening act for Teutonic thrash metal legends Kreator. Nobody dreamed they’d one day pack CUK Kino Šiška in Ljubljana to the very last corner — and it was practically sold out. The crowd was pure youth. Mid-twenties, maybe younger. Any grey-haired heads that did show up were there that evening more to chaperone their teenage offspring — grandchildren, even — than for the music itself.
Eluveitie brought along two very interesting but stylistically quite different bands. What all three acts in this touring package had in common was female lead vocals. We’d seen Ad Infinitum recently, opening for Kamelot. At CUK Kino Šiška, back in October 2024 (RockLine concert review).
In under six years, the band has rattled off four studio albums at an impressive pace, the most recent being “Abyss” last year. That one also got the most stage time in the setlist. The quartet delivered a similar show to last October, though it came across just a notch more self-assured. There’s no point wasting words about Melissa — every band would want her. Her vocal range comes with incredible chameleon-like versatility: from a piercing, authoritative clean voice she calibrates with extraordinary sensitivity to the message and mood of each song, to an erupting growl, to moments that flirt with soul moves in the quieter, more balladic passages. The three musicians backing her demonstrated top-level tightness, and Adrian Theßenvitz in particular is something special — a brilliant guitar virtuoso who was a genuine pleasure to watch for his all-round fretboard acrobatics. The turnout was already pretty solid, and so were the crowd’s reactions; on top of that, the band delivered not only great tightness but — for a support act — an excellent sound, which gave their groove and drive an extra kick alongside the infectious musicality. This is a band on the rise, expanding its fanbase fast. It wouldn’t be surprising if Ad Infinitum started headlining their own tours soon!
Moldovan act Infected Rain are certainly old acquaintances of ours. This performance at CUK Kino Šiška was already their seventh on Slovenian soil. They last played in 2022 at SubArt in Kranj, and their last Kino Šiška appearance was back in December 2019 (RockLine concert review), when they were also warming up the crowd before headliners Eluveitie. This band is unbelievable. In energy terms. Musically, nothing special. But what they pull out of themselves during a show is enviable. It all rests in the hands of powerhouse vocalist Elena Catarage, better known as Lena Scissorhands (the nickname comes from the fact that Lena is also, among other things, a hairdresser). Good things come in small packages! A stocky little woman who produces a deafening level of decibels — and at every moment, her vocal delivery is exactly where it needs to be. Whether in the quiet parts, where she shows off her incredible technical training and refinement, or in the most ferocious passages, where she screams like a furious wasp. The combination of groovy metalcore with nu-metal elements absolutely delivered in the live setting. The charismatic, extravagant frontwoman is genuinely the main draw and gravitational center of the entire quartet. The core axis. Everything revolves around her. Guitarist Vadim, however, was a bit suspect. His guitar playing looked mildly questionable compared to what was coming out of the speakers — full of holes, you might say. As if the whole band’s performance was supported by extra guitar tracks — pre-recorded lines. Given all the gymnastics the guy was pulling off, which regularly pushed the boundaries of what’s normal, it was genuinely baffling at moments where all the skill was coming from to simultaneously cover that much of the available sonic backdrop with riffs and transition fills alike. The thunder coming out of the speakers was far beefier than one guitar could account for — you’d need at least two. But the crowd didn’t let it bother them. They were riding the energy, and the band more than confidently knocked out their set, with most of the focus on promoting the latest album “Time”, released last year.
Eluveitie have their permanent home in Slovenia. Honorary citizenship, you could say. They play here regularly. But it’s incredible how big this band has gotten over time. Even after the lineup tornado that hit them not so long ago. By that point the name had grown so big that the upheaval didn’t seriously dent the band’s future. Ànv is the latest album, and the band came to Ljubljana to present it in generous portions. The stage backdrop was themed around the new album’s cover.
The octet delivered an hour and three quarters of excellent tightness, though everything also ran very, very routinely. Everything is rehearsed down to the finest detail — every stage position, the whole theatrics of it, including the between-song addresses to the audience. Strictly professional. But executed at the highest level. There were genuinely no slip-ups to spot. Glanzmann in his hood remains the grand commander, surrounded by his array of eye-catching instruments that give the band their flawless folk metal pedigree, and he delivered several heartfelt addresses to the crowd. The audience had come from all corners — a lot of Austrian faces, Italian ones too. In short, the turnout was excellent. The venue practically sold out. Both female musicians — new violinist Lea-Sophie Fischer and vocalist and harpist Fabienne Erni — cast their respective spells, the latter especially thanks to her remarkable angelic vocal range, which enchanted the audience in the Celtic melodies. The only shame was that the sound mix was occasionally not clear enough to properly pick out the work of the harp or the hurdy-gurdy that Fischer was handling, as the guitar lines of both guitarists kept claiming the sonic lead throughout the concert.
Eluveitie had the crowd in a frenzy — and the first mosh pit going — right from the opener Helvetios, which the faithful naturally know inside out. Several more would follow. The opening stretch was especially hot, with the band pouring fuel on the fire with another older catalogue classic, Tarvos. Eluveitie balanced the setlist beautifully, playing a well-chosen cross-section of their career so far. In the closing stretch too, when it was time to squeeze every last atom of energy out of the devoted faithful, Eluveitie pulled it off with great distinction — a show of stage power, command, and supreme confidence. Havoc and then King did their jobs, with the crowd throwing themselves into singing along and full-on participation, resulting in an incredibly charged atmosphere loaded with emotional energy. Eluveitie felt it too — visibly enjoying themselves, soaking up the waves of happiness and joy coming off the fired-up crowd.
The obligatory encore brought a new track, Premonition, but given the band’s stature it was immediately eclipsed by the long-awaited Inis Mona that followed — and that was the definitive highlight of the night! Incredible energy! The real concert magic you come for. Everything was in its right place that evening. The right fans, and consequently a phenomenal atmosphere. This event can already be declared, right at the start of 2025, one of the standout gigs on Slovenia’s concert scene that we’ve witnessed this year.
words: Aleš Podbrežnik
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Ad Infinitum – setlist:
1. Follow Me Down
2. Aftermath
3. Upside Down
4. Anthem for the Broken
5. Outer Space
6. Surrender
7. Animals
8. The One You’ll Hold On To
9. Into the Night
10. Unstoppable
Infected Rain – setlist:
1. The Realm of Chaos
2. Pandemonium
3. Vivarium
4. Fighter
5. The Answer is You
6. Dying Light
7. Never To Return
8. Because I Let You
9. Sweet, Sweet Lies
Eluveitie – setlist:
1. Helvetios
2. Ategnatos
3. Tarvos
4. The Prodigal Ones
5. Exile of the Gods
6. Slanias Song
7. A Rose for Epona
8. Epona
9. Ànv
10. Aidus
11. Deathwalker
12. The Call of the Mountains
13. Ambiramus
14. Havoc
15. King
—encore—
16. Premonition
17. Inis Mona
