Cruachan/Blood On The Black Robe/Candlelight Records/2011 CD Review

  Cruachan are a band from Ireland that has had an album reviewed in this zine in the past, with a style that mixes pagan/Celtic/folk music with black and traditional metal and this is a review of their 2011 album "Blood On The Black Robe" which will be released by Candlelight Records.

Drums alternate between slow, mid paced to fast drumming with some blast beats, while the various folk instruments bring a medieval folk music feel to the music, as for the bass playing it has a very dark, powerful and distorted tone with some heavy riffing.

Rhythm guitars alternate between slow, mid paced and fast riffing that combines black metal and traditional metal together with a good amount of melody, while the lead guitars are very melodic sounding without a lot of guitar solos, since the music concentrates mostly on rhythm, as for the acoustic guitars when they are utilized briefly they use full chords to enhance the darkness of the music.

Vocals are mostly high pitched black metal screams with some occasional clean singing female vocals that bring an esoteric New Age feel to the music, while the lyrics cover Irish Paganism, Folklore, Mythology and History with some anti- Christian themes, as for the production, it has a very heavy and professional feel to it.

In my opinion this is another great album from Cruachan and it is their heaviest and most black metal sounding album in years, while still retaining the folk elements and if you are a fan of their previous albums, you will not be disappointed. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "I Am Warrior" "Blood On The Black Robe" "The Voyage Of Bran" and "Pagan Hate". RECOMMENDED BUY.

http://cruachan.metalfan.nl