Cruachan – ‘Blood for the Blood God’ (2014)
Rating: 9,5/10
Release: 5 December 2014
Label: Trollzorn Records
What can you say about Cruachan that hasn’t already been said? They have created the template for 20+ years for all other folk metal bands to follow and this latest album is no exception. While other bands still try to follow this template, no one still sounds like Cruachan.
Even given the fact that new members joined after the last album (“Blood On The Black Robe”) they still have the same Cruachan sound we have grown to love. A blend of traditional Irish folk, pagan, thrash, and black metal is what I hear in every song and more crushingly so than I can remember in previous releases. There definitely seems to be more of an edge here and I believe it is a focused attack on those who want to try and topple them from the mountaintop to no avail, whether intentionally so or not.
From the enchanting opening of “Crom Cruach” you are sucked into Keith Fay weaving spellbinding tales rich with Irish folklore, history and mythology, dark and desolate as some may be. I love the diversity of the songs styles on this album. From heavier tracks like the title track, “Prophecy” and the “Perversion, Corruption and Sanctity-Parts 1 and 2” to the more traditional “The Marching Song Of Fiach Mchugh” and “Pagan” there are stories here which should resonate with everyone who listens, Irish or otherwise. The production is both natural and in your face at the same time, a perfect blend for folk metal, highlighting the acoustic and electric instruments as well as the percussion.
If you are not at all familiar with the Cruachan then it is about time you started listening. In fact, save yourself the trouble and just buy the entire catalog and start from “Tuatha Na Gael” and listen to all of the albums consecutively over your next free night at home with your favorite beverage. Once you finish with “Blood For The Blood God”, you will be on the right path to knowing what folk metal is all about straight from the source of it all.
Tracklist
- Crom Cruach 01:06
- Blood for the Blood God 05:49
- The Arrival of the Fir Bolg 06:27
- Beren and Luthien 05:47
- The Marching Song of Fiach Mac Hugh 03:22
- Prophecy 04:52
- Gae Bolga 04:04
- The Sea Queen of Connaught 07:27
- Born for War (The Rise of Brian Boru) 05:52
- Perversion, Corruption and Sanctity – Part 1 05:51
- Perversion, Corruption and Sanctity – Part 2 04:32