The Irish band Cruachan's fifth album is an intriguing combination of black metal, folk metal and Irish music. At times you think you're listening to a traditional Celtic album with violins, flutes, mandolins and banjos, but then the metal guitars kick in.
The Morrigan's Call is a great balance of dark and forbidding black metal elements along with light and upbeat folk metal. A fun drinking song can suddenly take an extreme turn, but then return back to its original style.
The vocals on this album are very diverse. The prevalent style is female melodic vocals, but there are also some female ethereal vocals, rowdy male vocals, melodic vocals, and even a few harsh black metal screams. Cruachan have a unique sound, and this is an interesting and enjoyable CD.
