Artist: Orphaned Land
Venue: B.B. King Blues Club (New York, NY)
Opener: Suidakra, Gwynbleidd
Date: 3/8/2010
Label: Century Media Records
The weekend is almost always sanctuary for the workaday types and those that are entrenched in study. If they are lucky, by the time that it comes around it has given them the escape of a rousing Metal show and this past weekend, as our March Metal Madness began, we surely had our fill because the mighty Kreator performed on Saturday around the corner at the Nokia Theatre while last night was Hammerfall down at The Fillmore. I could think of no better way to prepare oneself for the usual grind and while Monday’s almost always suck when it comes down to it – this would not be the case tonight because down inside the welcoming walls of B.B. King Blues Club, a show of amazing proportions was going to take place. From Israel would come Orphaned Land, a band that while making a couple of appearances at a Prog-Metal festival over the years had never embarked on a lengthy tour of this region and their direct support for this batch of shows would be Germany’s Suidakra. We caught Suidakra once before over at The Highline Ballroom when they appeared for the Pagan Knights tour with Tyr & Alestorm. Starting the evening off for all of the gathering Metal heads would be Brooklyn’s own Gwynbleidd.
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Artist: Cruachan
Title: “The Morrigan’s Call”
Label: Candlelight Records
Release Date: 3/20/2007
Genre: Celtic/Folk Metal
Rating: 4.5/5
I would venture to guess that if bands like Korplikanni get you kicking and Finntroll finds your fancy then it’s about time that you “get your Irish up” with the music of Cruachan – a band that shows you how it’s done on the Emerald Isle. The rich Folk melody with a decidedly Irish twist is capable of getting the blood and the Guinness pumping as you energetically rock out to this one. “The Morrigan’s Call” is the bands first release on Candlelight Records, and a perfect home they could not have found any easier for their amalgamation of Celtic Metal, Irish Traditional, and Black Metal adventures. Rich Folk melody with a true Irish twist will get the blood and Guinness pumping as you rock to this one. The band uses a strong sense of Irish Folklore on many of the tracks and while there is a definite Metal vibe to much of the album, everything has that Celtic essence to it. “Shelob” begins with a rumbling Black Metal growl but as it reaches the middle you don’t know whether to mosh or do a jig. They swap between vocal styles with the Dark being handled by Keith Fay while Karen Gilligan handles the clean and the end result is overall very interesting. Fay also handles the electric and acoustic guitar duties, bodhran drum, mandolin, percussion and keyboard. A lot for one person yes, but it allows for a deeper amount of experimentation to be done. The use of traditional instruments does not end with him as John Ryan Will provides the Tin Whistle, Violin, Banjo, bouzouki and keyboards. The rhythm section is complimented by John Clohessy and Joe Farrell on bass and drums respectively. Among the more traditional Celtic fair lies in “Coffin Ships” with its flutes and whistles and “Morrigan’s Tale” which is vocal and bodhran drum exclusively. There is a nice heaviness that always has that folkish stomp to it and some of them will turn any traditional jig into a swarming mosh pit. As I listened and discovered this I found it made the experience of this band a lot more rewarding. It’s hard to compare them to any of the existing Folk bands I currently follow since there is such a Celtic flair and most the others I’ve been digging on have been Viking ones. I guess it would be cool to say imagine the Corrs meeting the likes of a decent Black Metal band and siring offspring.
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