Folk-lore - Cruachan

With their third album, Dublin's Cruachan abandon almost all of their black metal roots and focus on a more commercial style of folk metal that fortunately works in their favour. Karen Gilligan's vocals are now the leading force, and the memorable electric guitar riffs are complimented by traditional Irish instruments such as the violin, flute and bodhran, though your ears would have to be particularly fine-tuned to detect the latter. While it's not quite as diverse and intriguing as its more energetic predecessor 'The Middle Kingdom,' 'Folk-Lore' seems determined to mark itself out as the band's defining release, with greater production values, a more ...  Read the complete review