PAGAN

After having taken such a major artistic step forward with the brilliant Folk-Lore album, Cruachan can be said to have reverted slightly to an earlier stage of their evolution with Pagan. Compared to the previous Folk-Lore album, Pagan is heavier on the Metal, and not as well produced (the drums in particular takes some getting used to), but certainly no less inventive for that. It has much more of Keith Fay's aggressive/harsh vocals which might scare some people off, but these are delightfully mixed with the angelic voice of Karen Gilligan and almost every song is a duet between the two. While I liked Folk-Lore already on my first listen, I did not at first like the present album very much; but it has grown on me a lot since I first discovered this unique band and now I consider Pagan to be an excellent album in its own right. Most Prog fans should definitely begin with Folk-Lore, but Metal fans might well prefer the present album.

The Celtic and Irish Folk elements are still very strong here, of course, pervading every song, and the The Symphonic (Rock/Metal) component is still present as well on several songs. On a few songs there is even a slight Jazzy element featuring piano! Some Say The Devil Is Dead is something of a Folk Punk song (the follow-up to The Rocky Road To Dublin from the previous album). An album full of such songs would be of minimal interest to me, but within the context of the other songs here it actually adds something of positive value. The March to Cluain Tairbh is a Medieval instrumental that Gryphon would have been proud of! A Thousand Years and Erinsong are two further folky instrumentals that have no Metal in them whatsoever. These instrumental interludes work wonders to keep the album varied and interesting to the end.

The closer The Fall Of Gondolin first appeared on the band's debut album from 1995, but here it is in a re-recorded and much improved version. It is one of the several highlights of this album. Overall, Pagan flows very well from beginning till end and many songs share a common theme; namely, liberation from foreign powers throughout the ages, in particular Irish liberation, from Vikings, Christians, or the British.

All this makes for another interesting album from Cruachan. Highly recommended in addition to Folk-Lore and The Morrigan's Call.

Share this CRUACHAN review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to SouthSideoftheSky
• Report this review (#871644)
• Buy CRUACHAN music online with PA partners
• Show all CRUACHAN MP3/Stream
• Go to CRUACHAN page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Pagan page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for CRUACHAN related discussions