Few bands can marry devastating death metal riffs with furious fiddle leads quite like Eluveitie can and on their fifth album Helvetios, the Swiss folk-metal troupe are in fine form as they tell the tale of the Helvetians and their displacement in the bloody Gaulish Wars of the first century BC. Not for them dull affairs of the heart. The combination of the Gothenburg sound and traditional Celtic music is hardly a new one, but not many do it better; rather than a compromise between the two, Eluveitie manage to enhance each with the other, leaving an album that is fantastically heavy and with more tuneful melodies than you can shake a hurdy gurdy at.

On Helvetios more so than any of their previous efforts, Eluveitie have found both a unique identity and perfect balance in the music; the experience and maturity that was glimpsed on Everything Remains As It Never Was has flourished into this furious, jigging, air guitar-inducing beast. The band are at their best when the two elements dance a merry tale in unison; whether it be the stomping title track or intricate weavings of 'A Rose For Epona', Helvetios is a complete package best enjoyed as one epic musical journey.

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