CRUACHAN — Blood for the Blood God (review)

CRUACHAN — Blood for the Blood God album cover Album · 2014 · Folk Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
666sharon666
Back around 2008 time, perhaps a little later, Irish folk metal band Cruachan made a decision about their future that I expect didn't really go down well with most of their fans. Their lead singer, Karan Gilligan, had left and the band opted not to replace her. Instead their original vocalist Keith Fay, who'd been getting increased vocal time with each album after 2000's Karan dominant The Middle Kingdom, took the helm full time again and the group made a black metal based folk metal album, Blood on the Black Robe, in 2011. Karan returned as a guest, but the album was a statement. Cruachan wanted to return to extremer pastures.

Their latest release Blood for the Blood God is quite a surprise after that last album as while this is still more black metal influenced than any of the album's with Karan, I wouldn't call it a black metal album overall. Keith continues as the lead singer but varies his vocals a lot more, which also allows the style of songs to vary as well, between black metal ones like the title track and more fully Celtic flavoured ones. There's even a lively cover of a traditional folk song. The composition is a lot stronger to my ears; I did enjoy the last album but it hasn't stood the test of time the last few years have given it and I still find myself listening to the band's first three albums a lot more than the next three. I can see that changing with Blood for the Blood God though. This is, to me, clearly their most accomplished work in quite a while and quickly became a favourite of mine for 2014.

As a bonus track the band re-recorded the song Pagan from the album of the same name released in 2004. I'm not really fond of this new version. It's better produced, Pagan as an album's biggest problem has always been a not so great production, but the guest female singer doesn't have as nice a voice as Karan, and Cruachan kept the new version faithful to the original. I think I'd have preferred to have heard them redo it with just Keith singing. It would have been more in keeping with the main album, if nothing else.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

The Keeper's Tongue Avant-garde Metal
SUMAC
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Crying Out Of Things Sludge Metal
THE BODY
Buy this album from MMA partners
Orchards Of A Futile Heaven (with Dis Fig) Metal Related
THE BODY
Buy this album from MMA partners
Crawling Deathcore
ABYSSER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Forever Spoken Sludge Metal
WITCHPIT
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Prisoner - Children of the Grave (Official Video) Live
PRISONER (VA)
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Prisoner - Skies are Blackened (Official Video)
PRISONER (VA)
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Prisoner - Prisoner of Time (Official Video)
PRISONER (VA)
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Death Conspiracy - The Thousand Truths (Official Lyric Video)
DEATH CONSPIRACY
Tupan· 1 day ago
Death Conspiracy - Living To Explain (Official Music Video)
DEATH CONSPIRACY
Tupan· 1 day ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed