I guess it’s probably appropriate that I started listening to this on Friday the 17th of March…

It’s been 12 years since I reviewed ‘Blood on the Black Robe’, and there were 2 other albums released between that and this their ninth album. They have had a couple line-up changes in the intervening years, but Keith Fay has remained throughout and a whole host of guest artists have taken part on the album, which is understandable considering the range of traditional instruments involved.

The album is bookended by the title songs “The Living” and “The Dead”, with the former being a lively instrumental intro, while the latter initially appears to be a mellow instrumental wrapping up, until Keith barks out his angry lyrics and the pace becomes more aggressive to end things on a high.

Kim Dylla adds her vocals during the gentler bridges of “The Queen”, which goes from high tempo energetic to beautifully sedate with blending of so many instruments that Geoffroy Dell’Aria’s bagpipes and Audrey Trainor’s violin have to be pointed out as being easily noticeable. Keith’s harsh vocals suite the black metal styling towards the end of the song perfectly too.

I love the way the whistles over the acoustic guitars add the folky elements that “The Hawthorn” needs to really showcase Keith and Kim’s duet as a thing of beauty, before Keith and David Quinn’s guitars get heavier and Tom Woodlock ups the pace and the intensity with which he is pounding the drums.

Conjuring images of a Ren Faire, “The Harvest” has a great sing along quality to go with its boisterous jolly delivery, which I’m sure would go down well around a campfire after a day of toiling in the fields.

I was listening to “The Festival” when I realised it was St. Patrick’s Day, which I’m hoping is seen as more of an excuse to drink and party than a festival of any religious significance any longer, but one man’s poison and all that. Camillus Hiney lays down some accordion to accompany the whistles to make it a rather rumbustious tune.

The lead vocals on “The Ghost” are dealt with by Mathias ‘Vreth’ Lillmåns of Finntroll, to give the song a touch more of a death metal feel to it, as does Tom’s blasting, yet… somehow… the bagpipes still do not sound out of place.

The acoustic guitars and violins combine well with Kim and Jon Campling’s vocal harmonies on “The Crow”, even at the halfway point when the guitars get heavier the melody remains, letting the lead work some additional magic.

Joe Farrell’s bass has to work exceptionally hard to keep the rumble going under the drums on “The Reaper”, where Sinead Richards’ euphonium adds completely new element to the music.

The juxtaposition of the happy-go-lucky and bouncy soundscape of “The Children” when compared to the lyric content is exceptionally well done and you can’t help but sing along to it with glee.

Nella’s lead vocal on “The Changeling” is beautifully haunting as it smoothly contrasts with Keith’s far more abrasive rasping shrieks which are reigned in for a doomier timbre to equal effect on “The Witch” as Stu ‘La Rage’ Dixon flays his guitar for an epic lead solo.

My digital review pack comes with a second album, in the form of an instrumental version of all the songs. and I’m uncertain whether I want to admit to preferring it to the original. I guess the use of bagpipes and violins completely removes the need for vocals on the songs and they sound far livelier too.

(8/10 Marco Gaminara)

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