Pagan

Cruachan is one of the few Irish/Celtic folk metal bands today with good production that can actually produce good folk must fused with metal elements. They are one of the few good Irish/Celtic folk metal bands that exist at all as a matter of fact. One of the previous efforts from the band The Middle Kingdom is filled with great metal moments that at times (more often than not) overshadowed the folk moments. By the time Pagan was ready to be listened to, the band seemed to have weakened their metal, but strengthened their folk. While heavy metal fans may find no problem with the cliché metal rhythm’s and the generic riffs, fans of more complex or black/folk metal may find the metal moments way to simple and boring on this release. One thing can not be denied, and that is that with this release Cruachan can deliver some memorable and at times amazing folk music. Another actuality that is undeniable is that Cruachan can deliver some forgettable and at times horrible metal.

What this album has to offer is great music generated by more “classical” folk instruments. About once per song a folk “solo” of sorts ranges from a sense of rhythm and spirit to some that take on a serious melancholy tone. That is to say on songs like Michael Collins there is a very catchy pipe solo that caries on for over a minute using various repetitions to create a structure while also changing every few cycles of repeated melodies to keep the pipe segment interesting. 1000 Years uses the same pipe instrument and continues what was presented in Michael Collins to a less enjoyable extent mainly because the pipe segment is not as fast and the variations are not as well done. Ard Ri Na Heirann comes off as more traditional sounding folk towards the latter half of the song, using a choppy repetitious flute, it almost sounds like a flute version of Iron Maiden’s Mother Russian to make a quasi decent comparison. Lament For The Wild Geese begins with a nice isolated Bagpipe solo that is reminiscent of music from Braveheart (or for Star Trek Fans something Scotty would play in TOS). It is very pretty and softly played. The Gael uses two instruments, a violin and pipe, playing together to create one of the most memorable moments on the album, a catchy tempo changing folk melody which does nicely to work with the metal instruments being played as an undertone. What really makes a folk metal album great is not the ability to play folk instruments in a way that renders them enjoyable, that would make this album a great folk album. What would make it a great folk metal album is the ability to lace guitars with folk melodies, or vice versa lace folk melodies with metal instruments (if that’s possible).

Where Pagan finds itself doing this best is Some Say The Devil Is Dead. The song is Keith Fay singing like a traditional Irish man. Fast and abrupt in a heavily accented voice. The lyrics are delivered in fast repetitions vocal style that increases in intensity and tone as the line of lyric progresses. The vocals are so well done that they take on the feel of an actual folk instrument. Being sung with such volume and power (often compounded upon each other to generate a chorus effect) allows these vocals to make the need for other folk instruments unnecessary while they are sung. They work very well with the drum beat and main guitar riff and do not overshadow them or get overpowered by them, which doesn’t occur often as I would like it to in other songs.

Pagan is plagued with a problem which occurs often, almost to the point of once per song. The band seems to have trouble working guitars into folk instruments. What is the case most of the time is either a very boring or generic guitar riff and some weak (weak in the sense that it does not have the same volume or presence in the song as the guitar, not weak as in bad sounding) folk music that can’t compete with the over present guitar. Although these moments occur almost once per song and can last for minutes (a few times, not to often, usually under a minute) they are not present through out the entire song. A fine example of this would be on Erinsong. The song starts out and ends with boring ballad style guitar work and riffs. In the middle of the song some very beautiful and memorable piano playing is inserted (not really folk music, but classical none the less, something folk can be) which sounds a bit like the piano music in Chrono Cross, that part where you infiltrate the royal manor. Regardless if you got that comparison the piano segment being showcased works well with the guitar and drums, but that is the only part of the song which the non metal music works with the song. Such is the case on many songs of Pagan.

Another small and not to bad problem for Cruachan doesn’t do this as badly as other folk metal acts is play metal, then folk, then metal, not all at once as it should. Pagan features equally moments of folk metal that works well and moments where the song is metal then folk then metal again (repeat as many time as you would like so that each song is matched descriptively). This is not such a huge problem on Pagan for it doesn’t happen as much as I have heard it happen on other folk metal albums from other bands, but that is using a precept to verify this statement. It really shouldn’t happen at all.

Other small problems which were a hindrance to this albums path to greatness were the female vocals, songs which tried to be black or death metal but failed, and certain pointless songs. The female vocals were more often than not boring and almost monotonous. Karan Gilligan made many quality metal riffs (also many horrible metal riffs) almost sounds like alt rock riffs with her monotonous voice and slower style of singing. Kind of how Doro is hard rock/metal. The vocals did this, not the guitar work and other instruments. Some songs try to play blackened death metal like the title track. It starts off with a somewhat decent riff but fails to deliver anything memorable, the vocals are to high pitched making them almost sound like Gothenburg vocals. Annoyingly the female vocals feel the need to repeat what all the harsh vocals say, making the song longer and more repetitious than it needs to be, thankfully the song ends well with good folk music. Towards the end of the album a pointless song on the album breaks the flow Pagan was going for, that is the song Summoning Of The Sidhe. Summoning Of The Sidhe is a slow moving and forgettable song using various folk instruments (no metal ones). Fortunately it comes at the end of the album and doesn’t break the flow thanks to its track placing. Fun Fact, Summoning Of The Sidhe sounds like it was stolen from that PS2 rpg Shadow Hearts.

Pagan would be a great folk metal album if it were not for these shortcomings. It certainly features great folk moments, it also features some good metal moments. But with the series of small to large problems it is very hard to play this album all the way through. In fact I had to skip tracks every time I listened to it. Knowing what I know now I would still buy this album for what great moments it has. Michael Collins and Some Say The Devil Is Dead are some of my favorite songs now. This underappreciated band may have released an album with Pagan that alienated some fans who have a similar mindset to this review. But it may also create many new fans despite its flaws because it does play some good folk, metal, and folk metal at times that can last long enough to make a song good, if not great. Heavy metal and power metal fans I believe will eat this up, death and black metal fans may be turned off because of the bad black/death metal attempts on this album. With all said, Pagan becomes an album whose memorable moments will keep you putting it back in your player every few months or so, then shelving it again once you hear the forgettable moments again. The balance of good to bad moments is not entirely equal, more enjoyable moments find themselves present more often generating an above average album but below good album (not overall though, as in everything is above average and below good, just moments which are bad or good).