Dalriada - Ígéret (2011, Digipak)

×

Dalriada - Ígéret (2011, Digipak)

Close

There are quite a few female fronted bands that are deemed to be folk metal. Leaves Eyes, Kivimetsän Druidi, Midnattsol and Battlelore are all examples of bands that have, at one time or another, been described as being folk metal. Whilst all are definitely influenced by folk music, a more complete example of a female fronted folk metal band would be Hungary’s Dalriada. Already a very successful band in their home country, the band’s sixth record and first for AFM records sees the band try and translate their success to the rest of Europe and the world.

Lets get the negative out of the way. Ígéret has an introduction track that is slightly off-putting for those not familiar with the band. A disjointed folk piece, it isn’t a particularly welcoming number that would put off those listening to the album for the first time. Fortunately, albums aren’t judged by their intro tracks and so this isn’t too much of a big deal.

Thankfully the rest of the album isn’t anything like that. Instead Ígéret is a very well crafted album that serves well as an introduction for new listeners. A few listens to this album and you can see why the band are such a hit in their own country; this record is full of well produced, well written folk metal tunes. There’s a very good grasp of melody here, but at no point does it feel like its trying to be commercial and make outright pop music – this is just very good melodic metal.

Unlike many so-called folk metal bands who play more folk-tinged or folk-influenced metal than an outright crossover, this album is a very natural blend of Hungarian folk music and melodic metal styles. This is the case for more or less the entire album, but perhaps it is most notable on the album’s title track with its polka-like jig during it’s verses.

However it is the band’s lead singer, Laura Binder, that embodies the folk elements of the album best. Her soaring voice manages to capture the emotions of both the fast, bouncy tunes, the large, epic sounding choruses and the more sorrowful melodies on the album. On the album’s more joyful moments, there is a delightful playfulness in the way she sings, such as on the verse of Hajdútánc. She certainly has range as well, not only able to capture the varying moods of the band’s music but also growling on occasion. Most importantly, whilst the band’s lyrics will be unintelligible to the majority of listeners outside of Hungary, she makes the language itself sound beautiful and interesting. Singers of such quality are incredibly rare in metal, but Binder manages to gracefully show her skills on this record, sounding like a genuine metal AND folk singer.

Not that the rest of the band are shy in their contributions. As good as Binder sounds, guitarist and second vocalist András Ficzek isn’t such a bad singer himself, mostly singing with a distinctively power metal style and holds his own when he takes the lead. Like his female counterpart, he also has versatility and growls on occasion. Where both singers sound their best though is when they sing together, harmonizing beautifully such as on the choruses of Igazi Tuz and A Hadak Útja. There isn’t much in the way of fancy guitar work (though there’s plenty of keyboard-wizardry and even a harmonica solo) – but this doesn’t seem necessary. The songs themselves are the key here.

The folk metal scene is flooded with hundreds of bands – mostly from the Nordic nations – so it is refreshing to see such a strong album from this Hungarian outfit. Whether or not they can translate their success to outside their home country remains to be seen, but those willing to give the band a try should find something genuinely enticing here.

James Donovan, jukeboxmetal.com

×

Dalriada - Ígéret (2011, Digipak)

Close

The intro of this album is pretty much the most useless thing I ever heard. To receive a descent grade here one must come up with something special. And frankly…they do. The band itself calls the music power/folk metal.That is a quite accurate description, although there is also a hint of Viking metal present.

Dalriada from Hungary has mostly looked to the large neighbour to the west and especially to the bands Hollenthon and Edenbridge. It is unreasonable to see this band as a mix of the two Austrian bands, but there is much equality to list. There are samples to find like on ‘Domus Mundi’ and they are as creative with vocal melodies as Hollenthon. The atmosphere is cheerful like Edenbridge. Dalriada plays on this 'Ígeret’ (Hungarian for February if I remember correctly) a blend of power, death/viking and folk metal which is not bad at all. This is the sixth album and it can clearly be heard that the members can do more than peeling the strings. Because everything is sung in Hungarian it sounds pretty striking. The melodies are creative and entertaining and the use of three types of vocals makes it even more fun. The grunt is an ordinary grunt, the vocals of girl Laura (appealing to watch) are really lovely and do indeed sound a bit like Sabine from Edenbridge, she can sing, but there is certainly room for improvement. And one must be careful not to sound too much like other female fronted bands in these passages. Greatest asset are the clean vocals by András. This man has a great rough voice, a bit raw, but full of power and emotion (‘Mennyei Harang','Ígeret’, 'Kinizsi Mulatsaga' and ‘A Hadak Utja)’. Does anyone know the Italian singer Al Bano? His voice sounds quite like András’. Very nice vocal sound, but it is used far too sparse. In the future these vocals should certainly get a more inportant role in the music.

In addition to different vocals, keys and flutes are used to top everything off. The music sounds cheerful and only occasionally there is some melancholy (on parts with András’ clean vocals), that balance might be turned if it was for me. Also the production is not quite perfect, the sound is too light/fragile, the production needs to be more massive. Still, this is really an album with legitimacy because it has a fairly distinctive sound and the songs are entertaining, even though you really do not understand a word they say. Yet this is an important point, this Dalriada knows how to write strong melodies and many colleagues really should learn from them. In the future more attention should be paid to the sound and more frequent use of András’ clean vocals and the rest of Europe would also be introduced to them. That is going to happen any way because members of Korpiklaani are featuring on the next album.

Wilco, Lords Of Metal