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The Middle Kingdom is the second full-length album from Irish folk metal act Cruachan. This is the first album release that they put out after reforming, and the band returns with many changes to their sound. The Middle Kingdom was released in 2000.
Cruachan’s previous album Tuatha Na Gael (1995) was in the folk/black metal style. The Middle Kingdom drops the black metal from their sound completely, and completely revamped the way the band produced their music. For one thing as of this album they were female fronted, with singer Karan Gilligan replacing band leader Keith Fay as their main vocalist, although Fay does retain some vocal parts on the album, however his growl is only actually heard in a single song. The production is also a lot more polished and professional than on Tuatha Na Gael, giving a much clearer sound that naturally makes Cruachan’s music sound much more commercial than on their debut. The folk side of the band remains intact though, drawing on their Irish folk roots extremely well. The metal here shares the odd similarity in riffing style to Tuatha Na Gael, but draws more of traditional metal than black metal. Additional there are several parts on the album that come across as being progressive.
The change in style means that Cruachan’s music isn’t anywhere near as aggressive as it was before their initial split, but that wasn’t mean that they music is bad, just different. Karan Gilligan is an excellent choice of singer for folk metal, and suits thee new direction of the music really well. It’s perhaps because of that that Keith Fay’s growls, in the brief time they appear come as a surprise and actually sound out of place. I very much prefer Fay’s clean vocals on the album, which are used in a couple of songs. Additionally there’s some guest vocals from a John Munnelly in Is Fuair An Chroí and if you have the special edition, also in bonus track To Hell Or To Connaught.
The Middle Kingdom is a much easier album to get into than Tuatha Na Gael ever could be, however even after giving it just as much time as that album I just don’t find The Middle Kingdom ultimately as rewarding. This is solid folk metal that is done really well both compositionally and performance wise, but it lacks the same spark as Tuatha Na Gael and the following Folk-Lore album (2002), and being sandwiched between two folk metal masterpieces doesn’t do The Middle Kingdom any favours really, since it makes it even easier to notice the flaws in the album. The Middle Kingdom certainly isn’t a bad album, and there are many gems amongst its tracks such as Celtica (Voice of the Morrigan), The Fianna, Is Fuair An Chroí, and Unstabled (Steeds of Macha), but it is perhaps best described as an album by a band that were trying to go in a new direction, but needed another album to perfect it. Still for the great tracks that are here and for being a highly enjoyable release in its own right, Cruachan still deserves a pretty decent rating for The Middle Kingdom.
(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven, scored at 8.3/10)