Cruachan (band)
Cruachan | |
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General information | |
Genre (s) | Folk metal |
founding | 1992, 1999 |
resolution | 1997 |
Website | cruachanireland.com |
Founding members | |
Keith Fay (O'Fathaigh) | |
Current occupation | |
Vocals, guitar, keyboard, bodhran, mandolin, bouzouki, banjo, percussion |
Keith Fay (O'Fathaigh) |
Tin whistle, violin, banjo, bouzouki, keyboard |
John Ryan Will (since 2004) |
Irish flute, tin whistle , uilleann pipes , low whistle |
John Fay (O'Fathaigh) (1992–1997, 1999–2002, 2003, since 2008) |
Electric bass , background vocals |
John Clohessy (since 1992) |
Drums , percussion |
Colin Purcell (since 2007) |
former members | |
Drums, percussion |
Joe Farrell (2000-2007) |
Singing, percussion |
Karen Gilligan (1999-2010) |
Drums, percussion |
Jay O'Neill (1995-1997) |
Keyboard |
Collete O'Fathaigh (1995) |
Tin whistle, violin , banjo, bouzouki, keyboard |
John Ryan |
Acoustic guitar , mandolin, bouzouki |
Leon Bias (1995) |
singing |
Aisling Hanrahan (1997) |
? |
Joanne Hennessy |
? |
Steven Anderson |
? |
Steven Coleman |
? |
Declan Cassidy |
singing |
Paul Kearns (1995) |
Acoustic guitar |
Jay Brennan (1997) |
Acoustic guitar, tin whistle, banjo, keyboard |
Ed Gilbert (2001-2003) |
Cruachan is an Irish folk metal - band from Dublin , founded 1992nd The band name comes from the old capital of Connacht , Cruachan , which is in what is now County Roscommon . Nearby is the Cruachan Cave .
Together with Primordial and Waylander they are considered to be the pioneering band of Celtic Metal .
history
Cruachan was founded in 1992 by Keith Fay after his band Minas Tirith broke up. At the end of 1993 the demo Celtica appeared , which among others drew the attention of the German label Nazgul's Eyrie Productions to them. In 1994 Cruachan signed a recording deal with Nazgul's Eyrie Productions. On April 30, 1995, the Celtic festival Beltane , the debut album Tuatha na Gael was released . Since the label was very small and Tuatha na Gael sold surprisingly well, all copies of the CD were sold very quickly.
In 1997, Cruachan took on the Promo Promo '97 with the new singer Aisling Hanrahan , with which they made Century Media attention. Cruachan turned down a record deal with Century Media because they feared that the successful label would have too much of an influence on the artistic work. In mid-1997, Cruachan broke up due to personal differences.
In 1999 Keith Fay and John Fay decided to revive the band. The Dutch label Hammerheart Records signed a contract with the reunited band and in June 2000 the second album The Middle Kingdom was released . A year later, the rare debut album was also re-released along with the tracks from Promo '97 by Hammerheart Records.
Folklore , the third studio album, was released in 2002. Shane MacGowan was hired as a producer by The Pogues , who also appeared as a guest singer on the song Ride On .
After numerous concerts and festivals, some of which Cruachan even headlined, the fourth studio album Pagan was released in April 2004. This album was followed by two headline tours through Russia and one through Europe in 2005. In the same year the band also signed a contract with AFM Records.
The fifth studio album The Morrigan's Call was released in 2006 and is the band's best-selling album so far.
In early 2010, Cruachan separated from AFM Records. At this time, singer Karen Gilligan also left the band. However, the decision was made not to look for a new singer and instead to turn to the early albums musically with more extreme folk metal.
With Candlelight Records the band found a new label in summer 2010. The recordings for the current album, Blood on the Black Robe , began in November 2010. It was released as planned on April 18, 2011.
style
Cruachan initially played Pagan Metal with Celtic-inspired melodies on appropriate instruments; The band was influenced by the first Skyclad albums and Horslips , as well as Bathory's Viking Metal albums, Isengard and Storm . Since the Promo '97 the music has become much more melodic. Female vocals have come more and more to the fore, so black metal-like passages are the exception on The Morrigan's Call .
The lyrics are inspired by Celtic mythology (accordingly, the song To Invoke the Horned God from the debut refers to the Celtic deity Cernunnos and not to Satan ), but sometimes also very political. Many of the lyrics are about the Celtic past, for example the song Cattle Raid of Cooley (Eng. ' Cattle robbery of Cooley '). Some other songs are about the Tolkien universe , for example The Fall of Gondolin or Sauron . The band also played the old Irish track The March of Brian Boru on their debut.
Discography
Studio albums
- 1995: Tuatha Na Gael (republished 2001 and 2004)
- 2000: The Middle Kingdom
- 2002: Folk Lore
- 2004: Pagan
- 2006: The Morrigan's Call
- 2011: Blood on the Black Robe
- 2014: Blood for the Blood God
- 2018: Nine Years of Blood
Singles
- 2001: Ride On
- 2006: The Very Wild Rover
Demos
- 1993: Celtica
- 1997: Promo '97 (included in the re-release of Tuatha Na Gael )
Compilations
- 2002: A Celtic Trilogy (3-CD box set by Tuatha Na Gael , The Middle Kingdom and Folk-Lore as a picture LP, limited to 500 copies)
- 2007: A Celtic Legacy
Web links
credentials
- ↑ Cruachan interview from 2009
- ↑ Band biography ( memento of the original from November 20, 2012 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , cruachanireland.com, accessed January 25, 2011
- ↑ Announcement of the release date for BOTBR ( Memento of the original from January 26, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , cruachanireland.com, accessed January 25, 2011
- ^ A b John Stefanis: Interview: Keith Fay (Cruachan). (No longer available online.) 2004, archived from the original on February 22, 2014 ; accessed on April 15, 2010 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ BARBARIAN WRATH: RELEASES. Retrieved February 5, 2014 .