Cruachan-Blood on the Black Robe

Candlelight Records 2011


On paper the combination of black metal, folk metal and Irish music seems odd at best to me. What is it then about Ireland's Cruachan that is so magical? On album number six the band- Keith Fay (vocals/keyboards/bodhran/bouzouki/mandolin/percussion), John “Fay” O’Fathaign (tin whistle/flute), John Ryan (violin/banjo/bouzouki), John Clohessy (bass) and Colin Purcell (drums/percussion) create a sound that should appeal not only to the metal audience but those embracing Celtic folk rock. Well, maybe that is a stretch as "I am the Warrior" and "The Column" are heavy enough to stop a charging Nessie. "They Kingdom Comes" has metal riffs that remind me of Carcass's Swansong (in fact Keith Fray sounds like Jeffrey Walker at times). "An Bean Sidhe" features guest vocals from ex-member Karen Gilligan (she actually sings on three songs on the disc) and is quite lovely. The title track is one of the albums better numbers. It's also one of the few tracks where black metal vocals don't come into play. Instead there is a cleaner heavy metal voice which works really well. Really there wasn't a song on this album I didn't care for. My only complaint would be that while the folk and Irish music parts are exceptional the actual metal riffs sound an awful lot alike on several songs. While the metal might be taking a backseat with Cruachan I would have really loved Blood on the Black Robe if they invested as much time on it as the Celtic influences. That said though this should be a big hit with the now popular pagan/viking/folk metal genre and all those crazy kids who embrace it!