With their newest offering “Folk-Lore” Irish CRUACHAN musically not necessarily fit into the VOICES concept anymore. But as they originally emerged from this scene, I decided to give this album a short mention anyway. As the title already gives away, “Folk-Lore” is an album, with a major focus on Irish folk music, which means most parts of the songs get performed by instruments such as Mandolin, Banjo, Bodhrán, Irish Flute, Tin Whistle, Low Whistle and Bouzouki (whatever that all may be…). CRUACHAN combine that with a solid Metal foundation and on top of that you’ll get a beautiful female lead voice, courtesy of Karen Gilligan, who shares her duties with the raw growls of Keith Fay, but still delivers the major part on the album. So, even though this is completely unique stuff, everyone who already has a soft spot for bands like SKYCLAD and THIN LIZZY (for the Irish elements) should give CRUACHAN a listen as well. There’s quite a lot of potential to be discovered and I have the impression that they will become huge with this very soon. The album was produced by Shane Mac Gowan (of THE POGUES fame), who also contributes some guest vocals on the two featured cover tracks (‘Ride On’ and ‘Spancill Hill’). So, everyone who’s openminded enough, to experience something completely new, shouldn’t hesitate but give “Folk-lore” a listen right away. It might leave you speechless for a while…