Origins (Eluveitie album)

Origins is the sixth studio album by Swiss folk metal band Eluveitie. The album was released on 1 August 2014 through Nuclear Blast. It was the last album to include longtime members Anna Murphy, Ivo Henzi, Merlin Sutter and Patrick "Päde" Kistler as band members.

Concept
Origins deals with the Celtic mythology, "or to be more precise, with aetiological tales from Gaul", commented vocalist and front man Chrigel Glanzmann. Glanzmann also created the album artwork for this new offering and goes on to explain: "The album cover of Origins is designed after the hammer/club-shaped 'halo' of Sucellos, as seen on a statue that was found in a shrine of a Gallo-Roman household in today's France. It was created under the scientific supervision of experts from the University of Zürich".

Reception
Upon its release, Origins received generally positive reviews from music critics. Björn Springorum of Metal Hammer said that Origins was "their strongest album to date". Glenn Butler of Powerplay continued the praise saying "Quite simply this album is a magnificent creation from the concept through to the delivery".

Eluveitie

 * Chrigel Glanzmann – harsh vocals, bard harp, whistles, uilleann pipes, mandola, bodhrán
 * Ivo Henzi – rhythm guitar
 * Merlin Sutter – drums
 * Anna Murphy – hurdy-gurdy, clean vocals
 * Kay Brem – bass
 * Patrick "Päde" Kistler – tin & low whistles, bagpipes
 * Rafael Salzmann – lead guitar
 * Nicole Ansperger – fiddle, cello

Guests musicians

 * Alexander Morton – male narration on No. 01, 05, 09 & 16
 * Karen Bartke – female narration on No. 06
 * Emily Clays – child narration on No. 01, 02 & 14
 * Maria Körndorfer – violins
 * Christian Krebs – cellos
 * Fredy Schnyder – hammered dulcimer on No. 05
 * Christine Lauterburg – jodel on No. 04
 * Konan Mevel – binou kozh, pybgorn, additional whistles on No. 04
 * Fabian Hey – gaulish rebel choir on No. 13
 * Michael Müller – gaulish rebel choir on No. 13
 * Samuel Stamm – gaulish rebel choir on No. 13
 * David Horstmann – gaulish rebel choir on No. 13
 * Severin Caluori – gaulish rebel choir on No. 13
 * Sileno Püntener – gaulish rebel choir on No. 13
 * Fabian Agner – gaulish rebel choir on No. 13
 * Marc Betschart – gaulish rebel choir on No. 13
 * Farhad Ahmadi – gaulish rebel choir on No. 13
 * Raphael Knuser – gaulish rebel choir on No. 13
 * Kinderchor des Konservatoriums – children choir on No. 07
 * Christoph Bachmann – children's choir conductor on No. 07

Chart performance
For the first time in Eluveitie's twelve-year history their album reached number one in Switzerland. On hearing the news the band commented "That is just unbelievable. We are proud, happy, and most of all thankful to you, our fans. Together with you we've achieved the impossible and put metal where it belongs: at the top!". In addition to this, Origins reached number one on Billboard's Heatseekers Albums chart and broke the German top ten; peaking at number six.