Although the release of the album was very low key (especially that it is out on Metal Blade, only one of the top 5 metal labels on Earth) this album is full of fire. From the first strums of epic opener
The Morrigan, Ireland's Darkest Era conjure gray & sodden landscapes filled with druids & Celtic warriors & other epics goings-on. At this point you may go "cheesy Folksy Medieval Metal crap", but no !!! Anything but. No keyboards. No samples. No giddy violins. Just strong melodic guitars, hardy rhythmic underpinnings & one epic voice. The bands secret is Krum, their singer. Although singer doesn't do him justice, Wailing Wind-Caller is a more appropriate. All songs, bar non have hearty choruses, far from poppy but irresistible to sing-along too. Lyrically the album follows suit to it's epic sound and the subject matter is what most Old-time Singing bands should be writing. The battle hymns of
The Morrigan, the celestial sorcery & mournful introspect of
Beneath The Frozen Skies & the dark druidry of
Heathen Burial are shining examples of Ballad-like story-telling in the Metal context. The album nears a conclusion with an actual Irish folk song
Poem To The Gael & then finally closes with the eleven minute saga of
The Last Caress Of Light Before The Dark. Crashing like the waves on the black rocks of Ireland's shores, the album is a must-hear
Best Tracks: The Morrigan, Beneath The Frozen Skies & The Last Caress Of Light Before The Dark
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