Ride On

The single Ride On is one of Cruachan’s less famous releases. It contains only four songs but those songs are really worth listening to. I must say that I think that this single has the highest over all quality of all Cruachan releases. The fact that there are so few songs on it makes it of course easier to hold a high level throughout the whole thing. It is easier to produce four good songs than ten or more of course.

Cruachan are a really nice Folk Metal band. When I first heard the expression Folk Metal, I thought that it would sound like this. But after that I realized that Folk Metal was mostly Black Metal bands that maybe played a few seconds of Folk music between the choruses. Or it was Power Metal bands that did sound a little more medieval than most others but nothing more. Cruachan is neither of those. They mix the traditional Metal instruments with many Folk instruments in an extraordinary way. Their first album Tuatha Na Gael sounded regrettably too alike Black Metal for my taste but everything they have released since has been wonderful. The mostly play a fast sort of Metal based on drums and flutes. In the review of this single their usual style will be included; because this is not different from their other good material. By that I don’t mean that they are repetitive, only that their best songs often have the same style.

And now follows a musical analysis of Ride On:

The guitar riffs sound often alike good Power Metal, but all the more unusual Folk instruments add more fantasy and variation to the songs. Flutes are important in these songs. They are maybe a little more in the background on the tracks Sauron and Ride On but they still do a great job. On Maeves’ March 2001 and To Hell or to Connaught the flutes play a greater role. The songs include both male and female vocals. Even though most of Cruachan’s later material has been dominated by the softer female singing this single has pretty much male vocals. On the track Ride On the famous singer Shane Mac Gowan makes a guest appearance.

The riffs are maybe not very advanced but they always do their job and are absolutely nothing to complain about. The drumming is inspired and always follows the melody very good. It is more advanced than most Metal drumming and really adds something extra to the tracks. The guitars are handled very well by Keith Fay.

Here comes a review for each song to give a better insight in what is on this single.

Ride On

This title track is a wonderful Metal ballad. It starts off with a flute that is joined by an acoustic guitar and together they play a nice calm melody to which Shane Mac Gowan start to sing. The lyrics are simple but touching and she sings beautifully. Calm drumming and the flute and guitar play on and soon the chorus is reached. It is slow and pretty short but it is repeated. Both Fay and Mac Gowan sing in the chorus and it creates an interesting contrast. The chorus is very good just as the rest of the song. Then comes the part when Fay sings alone; I must say that he sounds a little drunk. That is not very good but you soon forget it when the tempo gets higher after approximately 2:20. Now an electric guitar replaces the acoustic and Fay starts to yell a little. He is much better at that, and I, as a Power Metal fan, can assure all who don’t like growls that this is nothing bad. It doesn’t pass the border to annoying at all. As a conclusion, this is a very good Metal ballad.

Maeves’ March

This is a fast instrumental song. It is much heavier than Ride On, especially when it comes to the guitar. Some Folk instrument, probably some sort of flute dominates this fast son together with the electric guitar and the excellent drums. It is a little repetitive but it has such a good tempo that this doesn’t matter and it is only 3:08 so you don’t get irritated. This is a new version of an old Cruachan song from Tuatha Na Gael, and this new version beats the old one with its superior speed and timing. The feeling from this song is not as dark or melancholic as most of Cruachan’s other songs.

Sauron

As most people probably understand, this song is about the Dark Lord in Middle-Earth, Sauron. The intro consists of a solo with some sort of string instrument. (I cannot define what, Cruachan play many different). After this the song develops into a heavy and fast song with a heavy (and very good) guitar as the base to build on. The female vocals are powerful and swiftly sung. Just as Maeves’ March, this song has a high tempo but this song is much darker in its feeling. The chorus is catchy and gets stuck in your head. The lyrics are pretty simple and riming but they manage to follow the melody very well.

To Hell or to Connaught

This is an aggressive Heavy Metal-inspired song which contains mostly the usual instruments while the lyrics are sung. But between there are long periods where an electric guitar and several Folk instruments play together. The vocals are sung fast and the end of every sentence is “drawn out”. The lyrics don’t say anything to me. If there is a deeper meaning with them I cannot see it at least. This is the least good song on this single but it has still a high quality. Cruachan is a very good band compared to most others.


This single contains four good songs that are well worth to listen to. If you like Folk Metal you will probably like and I think that most Power Metal fans would appreciate these songs too.