HAUL AR YR EIRA

This Welsh group crawled out of the woodwork when the public least expected it, especially in an unfriendly era for folk rock, the late 70's and early 80's. It's always a bit unclear whether the group was a quartet or including the female voice, a different one on the two releases (out of three historic and a fourth posthumous) that I've heard, given that the recent Cd reissues are entirely in Welsh/Gaelic as were the vinyls back then. Around that closing of 70's era, few places still specialized in local progressive folk, usually backed by a strong independence movement (The Basque, the Quebecois and the Welsh were three case). Backed by an evocative historical artwork and another western coastal picture, Haul Au Yr Eira is probably one of those rare lost gem that

Opening on the guitar arpeggios of the title track, the song takes its time to develop, between tempestuous passages and more medieval moments (flutes, harp, and finishes by a short verse. The following tracks picks up almost where its predecessor had left it, coming close to a cross of Pentangle meeting Genesis, or an early Renaissance. Can Y Mellinyd is again in the Pentangle, but veering Malicorne or Ougenweide, this time, even if a nice Hackett-ian guitar solo and so on for the next tracks. Only the short ninth instrumental track Hiraerth Y Mor differs a bit from the straight 3 to 4 minutes songs (including two traditional songs, superbly arranged by the group), but it leads to a fabulous closing track Pan Ddaw.

Whether or not the Face The Dawn label is legit is rather doubtful, especially when hearing hand-made volume correction in the third or fourth track that are too important to be normal, so most likely it's a boot, but when only that is around... One of those real unearthed gems, along with its younger sister Teithan, the first two Pererin albums are must-haves for prog folk fans.