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If you've followed melodic Heavy Metal for any length of time you should be familiar with Italy's Elvenking. They've been at the folky, fantasy Power Metal thing since 1997 and 2014's The Pagan Manifesto is full-length #8. Much of what you've come to expect from Elvenking (or much of what you would assume from the band's name and country of origin) are present in good measure on The Pagan Manifesto; clear vocals, fantasy lyrics, double-kick drums, keyboards and guitars vying for your attention, etc. I rather liked Red Silent Tides but not the follow-up, Era, which sucked. The Pagan Manifesto rights the ship in a big way and even manages to expand upon Elvenking's repertoire a bit and, for that reason alone, it is a more engaging listen. You've still got epic-length pieces ("King of the Elves") and medieval instrumentation ("Towards the Shore") but we also get occasional harsh vocals ("The Solitaire") and creepy, classical-sounding choirs ("Witches Gather") that provide some welcome diversity. The vocal lines on The Pagan Manifesto are also improved and sound not unlike something you'd hear on an Ordan Ogan album.

The Pagan Manifesto is solid and every so slightly different from the hordes of fantasy-based albums available today. When you combine that with the quality playing and improved songwriting, you get something definitely worth checking out, especially if you wrote the band off after Era.