The Scythe is the fourth studio album by Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 folk metal

Folk metal

Folk metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. As the name suggests, the genre is a fusion of heavy metal with traditional folk music...

 band Elvenking

Elvenking (band)

Elvenking is a folk/power metal band from Italy. As of 2010, the band has released one demo, one single, and six full-length studio albums.- Biography :...

. The Scythe was released on September 14, 2007 through AFM Records

AFM Records

AFM-Records GmbH is a music label based in Schwalmstadt, Germany. They focus on the heavy metal musical genre, signing bands such as U.D.O., Doro, Kotipelto, Masterplan, Nostradameus, and Annihilator....

 in all European countries, and November 7 in the USA by Candlelight Records

Candlelight Records

Candlelight Records is an independent record label based in Europe founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bassist Lee Barrett, though it has had a division in the United States since January 2001. Candlelight Records specialises in black metal and death metal, having bands such as Emperor,...

.

This is the first concept album of Elvenking, with lyrics centered around death of a beautiful woman. This is also illustrated in the video to "The Divided Heart".

Track listing

1. "The Scythe" – 9:35
2. "Lost Hill of Memories" – 4:58
3. "Infection" – 5:05
4. "Poison Tears" – 4:30
5. "A Riddle of Stars" – 5:22
6. "Romance & Wrath" – 8:14
7. "The Divided Heart" – 4:39
8. "Horns Ablaze" (Digipak version bonus track)
9. "Totentanz" – 2:28
10. "Death and the Suffering" – 5:11
11. "Dominhate" – 8:57
12. "The Open Breach" (Japanese bonus track)

• The digipak version also includes the video for the song "The Divided Heart"

Line-up

• Damna – vocals
• Aydan – guitars
• Gorlan – bass
• Zender – drums
• Elyghen – violin, keyboards

Guest musicians

• Mike Wead
  Mike Wead
  Mike Wead is a Swedish guitarist who lives in Stockholm. Wead contributed to heavy metal bands such as Hexenhaus, Memento Mori, Abstrakt Algebra, The Haunted, Edge of Sanity, Witch, Firegod, Candlemass, The Project Hate. Currently Wead is the guitarist of Mercyful Fate, King Diamond, and bibleblack...
  
  – 1st solo on “The Scythe,” 2nd solo on “A Riddle of Stars”
• Laura De Luca – female vocals on “Romance & Wrath” and “Dominhate”
• Jared Shackleford – narration
• Mauro Bortolani – piano
• Isabella Tuni – female voice on “Romance & Wrath”
• Laura De Luca, Pauline Tacey, Claudio Coassin, Aydan – backing vocals
• Claudio Coassin, Damna, Aydan and Jarpen – shouts

String quartet

• Arrangement by Elyghen
• Eleonora Steffan – violin
• Valentina Mosca – violin
• Elyghen – viola
• Marco Balbinot – cello