A Rose For Epona, a brand new song from Swiss folk metallers Eluveitie, can be streamed in the YouTube clip below. The track comes off the group’s new album, Helvetios, which will be released on February 10 via Nuclear Blast Records.
Commented Eluveitie vocalist Christian “Chrigel” Glanzmann: “The song ‘A Rose For Epona’ appears about in the middle of the storyline — so, it tells about the time when the gaulish war broke out already. The Helvetians decided to leave their homeland and migrate to the west coast of Gallia, to start a new life there. In the time the song tells about, many Helvetians had to face pretty much shattered hopes. And so does the protagonist, from whose viewpoint the song is written: A young gaulish woman.
She was part of the helvetic migration, but after the battle of Bibracte, all hopes that she and her people would ever reach their new home were torn to pieces. Furthermore you can imagine: She probably had lost her husband on the battlefields of Bibracte and she had to face fact that she can be glad if their common newborn child would not be killed and she herself would be sold into roman slavery. To sum it up: Her situation was desperate. In this situation ‘our’ young gaulish woman despairs, can’t accept her fate and turns to her goddess Epona… and accuses her for having forsaken her people. This is what the song expresses. On a historical note: ‘Epona’ was a gaulish goddess which was, among other things, in charge of taking care of horsemen and the cavallery. All over Gallia there were Epona temples where people traditionally offered up freshly cut roses or rose petals to their goddess.”
A video for A Rose For Epona was recently filmed and will make its online debut soon.
The CD was recorded at New Sound Studio in Pfäffikon, a municipality in the canton of Zurich in Switzerland, with producer Tommy Vetterli (a.k.a. Tommy T. Baron; Coroner/ex-Kreator guitarist). According to the band, Vetterli“record[ed] drums, guitars and vocals and also produc[ed] and mix[ed] the record. Most folk instruments and also vocals [were] recorded by Anna Murphy and Marco Jencarelli at the Soundfarm studios in Lucerne.”
Eluveitie will join Children Of Bodom on the Finnish metallers’ North American headlining tour in celebration of the band’s 15th anniversary. The trek will kick off on January 30, 2012 in Rochester, New York and run through March 4, hitting 26 cities over the course of the five-week jaunt. Boston-based extreme metal band Revocation and Canada’s Threat Signal are also on the bill [tourdates are listed below].
Track listing:
01. Prologue
02. Helvetios
03. Luxtos
04. Home
05. Santonian Shores
06. Scorched Earth
07. Meet The Enemy
08. Neverland
09. A Rose For Epona
10. Havoc
11. The Uprising
12. Hope
13. The Siege
14. Alesia
15. Tullianum
16. Uxellodunon
17. Epilogue
CHILDREN OF BODOM
ELUVEITIE
Revocation
Threat Signal
January 21 Mexico City, MX Circo Volador
January 23 Miami, FL 7000 Tons of Metal Cruise
January 24 Miami, FL 7000 Tons of Metal Cruise
January 25 Miami, FL 7000 Tons of Metal Cruise
January 26 Miami, FL 7000 Tons of Metal Cruise
January 27 Miami, FL 7000 Tons of Metal Cruise
January 28 Charlotte, NC Tremont Music Hall
January 29 Reading, PA Reverb
January 30 Rochester, NY Water Street Music Hall
January 30 Rochester, NY Water Street Music Hall
January 31 Detroit, MI Harpo’s
February 1 Grand Rapids, MI Intersection
February 3 Milwaukee, WI The Rave
February 4 St. Louis, MO Pops
February 6 Lawrence, KS Granada Theater
February 7 Denver, CO Gothic Theater
February 9 Las Vegas, NV House Of Blues
February 10 Salt Lake City, UT The Complex
February 11 Boise, ID Knitting Factory
February 13 Santa Ana, CA Yost Theatre
February 15 Phoenix, AZ Marquee Theatre
February 17 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theatre
February 18 El Paso, TX Tricky Falls
February 19 Lubbock, TX Pavilion
February 21 Austin, TX Emo’s East
February 22 Houston, TX Warehouse Live
February 24 Louisville, KY Expo 5
February 25 Cleveland, OH Peabody’s
February 26 Toronto, ON The Sound Academy
February 27 Montreal, QC Metropolis
February 29 Quebec City, QC Imperial
March 1 Hartford, CT Webster Theatre
March 2 Huntington, NY The Paramount Theatre
March 3 Sayreville, NJ Starland Ballroom
March 4 Baltimore, MD Ram’s Head Live
A Rose For Epona audio stream:
Related articles:
‘Eluveitie’ Recording New Album (Details and Album Title Unveiled) + Fall 2011 Tourdates [Sept. 2011]
‘Eluveitie’ ‘NeckBreacker’s Ball’ Tour Over + Video Shoot [Nov. 2011]
New ‘Eluveitie’ Song Available For Streaming ‘Meet The Enemy’ [Dec.2011]