Cruadalach are one of those strange bands where their sound doesn’t quite fully sit in one genre or another, but instead is firmly seated between two. Sure, you could say this about the majority of bands these days as most bands have one or two major sounds and several minor ones which come together to make the finished product, but with the Czech folk-groove metal outfit, it is literally 50/50 folk metal and groove metal. With their first album “Lead – Not Follow” released in 2011, Rebel Against Me is their follow up. Let’s see what all this banner raising is about then.
There’s one thing I’ve learned about folk metal over the years and that whilst it is sometimes enjoyable live (or if it’s Korpiklaani and 1pm and your smashed already), on record it can be very hit or miss. Perhaps the energy put into the performance doesn’t quite get conveyed the same way as it does on disc, who can say? With Cruadalach this is the case unfortunately. The eight piece have all the right components to create a good folk sound with some metalcore and groove metal elements to it, giving it a bit more weight in the sound and delivery, but it just doesn’t sit well at all.
There are some parts, like in album opener “Revolt Without A Name” which are extremely energetic and raw and metal sounding and the band does well in these parts, but when it comes to the more folk-like sounding tracks, it doesn’t have that same spark. Some of the arrangements like the verses in “Earth Cafe” or the full track “The Astralnaut” work brilliantly, but the main thing which lets this album down is the vocal department. On the first two tracks it works ok, but from there onwards, it’s just a mess which is a shame because it really detracts from some of the traditional and medieval melodies you can find on this album in the instrumental sections.
On the whole, “Revolt Without A Name” is definitely one for the folk metal enthusiasts who can deal with some inconsistencies in sound and style and truly appreciate it for what it is, but the poor mixing of groove metal to folk metal just doesn’t work for me in the slightest.
(4/10 Fraggle)
16/12/2015 at 11:01 am
Better than recent score then?