TEITHGAN

I will always be grateful to Ken Levine for turning me on to this amazing band and their debut masterpiece. Their second album "Teithgan" is another very good collection of delicate folk-rock. While still a very pleasant listen and recommended to prog-folk genre fans I do not regard it as highly as the debut. The songs are good but not as drop-dead perfect and the magical vocals of Nest Llewelyn are so sadly missed. After playing "Teithgan" numerous times for this review I had to revisit "Haul Eira" but once to realize how much more special that one is to me in both content and performance. That said, this album will please many with it brilliant and sunny arrangements of flute, guitar, and mellotron. It is another fine mix of traditional folk and folk-rock.

"Hearts Door" begins with picked acoustic guitar and delightful flute before the male vocal begins. After a bit drums and bass enter for a mid-paced folk rock with mellotron behind everything, very nice. There is a bit of Latimer style lead electric as well. It is a gorgeous opener described as a Welsh love song. "The Man from Cefn Brith" is a darker mood about a Welsh martyr using tighter, sharper edged guitar strumming and percussion with just a bit of electric snippets here and there. Quite traditional in feel. The instrumental "Will You Come Dai" is warm and enveloping with contemplative acoustic and flute over hand percussion. Some very light electric guitar is weaved into the background. The pace picks up to something approaching a march. "Far Over the Hills" has an introduction of atmospheric guitar echo before vocals, drums, bass, flute and mellotron join. Rather slow, steady, pleasant but average track. "My Love" is another simple, pleasant track. With it laid back flute and airy guitars it is relaxing. "Joyful Symphony" is noted as a contemporary Christian song. Soft keyboards and warm acoustic guitar back the plaintive male vocals. Very mellow, no drums. "The Journey Song" warns about winning "the race" while losing the most importance treasures of one's life. The first part features some nice measured electric leads over hand percussion. This track is probably the wildest one with several different parts and some saucy guitar competing a bit with the flute. "Where are you going my fair maid" is a gorgeous traditional love song with just a few nice licks over the quiet acoustic and vocal. Soon female vocals join for some nice harmonizing as the track picks up a bit, then slows again. "A Few Trickles" is exactly that.just a short instrumental interlude of acoustic, flute, and an electric with volume pedal. Very pretty. "Pary's Mountain" is noted as a historical song warning against pollution and the loss of cultures and old ways of life. It is as Ken notes a real highlight of this second album permeated with both sadness for and struggle against the loss of collective past. These feelings strike a nerve with me as I'm often bothered by the lack of respect we show to our history, to places that are special. How quickly we are willing to part with special places in the guise of progress, for the profit of the few. We lose so much every day and so few care. The song moves towards a nice climax with the boldest music yet but then unfortunately does a poorly chosen fade when a proper ending was called for.

I would strongly urge anyone interested in Pererin to get the debut album first. If you love it (and I think most will) the other two albums are a very safe bet. While the lyrics provided are not in English there is a wonderful drawing provided for each song that sheds additional insight into the theme or emotion of each track. They are very tasteful and provide much more value than the often contrived "art work" that adorns many modern prog albums.a true example of less is more. But then, "less is more" is a line that Pererin embodies to me and I'm guessing proudly so to them. Simple beauty, local stories, enormous talent modestly displayed in a most sincere fashion.

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