I’m standing in the middle of heaven and hell when it comes to the Italian folk metal band ELVENKING. They have written and recorded excellent songs, but also songs that are not above average in my humble opinion. But... I was quite eager to check out their latest effort, namely their all-acoustic release, ‘Two Tragedy Poets (...and a Caravan of Weird Figures)’. – Is it all-acoustic? – I’m sure that I can hear an electric guitar now and then... but what the hell.

A bunch of new songs was written especially for this album, but we also get acoustic versions of “The Winter Wake” and “The Wanderer”, both from ‘The Winter Wake’ (2006)... and a cover of the 80’s pop hit “Heaven is a Place on Earth”. I’m not quite sure why ELVENKING have included this song on ‘Two Tragedy Poets (...and a Caravan of Weird Figures)’? I hate this track! But obviously they don’t.

It’s kinda difficult for me to write a complete review of this album because my promo-CD is packed with voice-overs. -“You are listening to... blah, blah, blah” and the guy keeps on talking and talking. But I can tell you that if you’re into ELEVENKING or folk music in general then I think you’re in for a treat. Despite the annoying voice-overs ‘Two Tragedy Poets...” is a joy to listen to. I really dig this album.

Their folk roots really shine through and the material is infectious, catchy and memorable. I even sometimes drift away and find myself in a smoke-filled Pub when I listen to this release. Maybe they should release all-acoustic albums from now on? Because the atmosphere and the quality is here and do have in mind that I’m not usually in for all-acoustic albums. Especially not folk/medieval albums, but this one has swept me off my feets. Fans of ELVENKING won’t go wrong here.