Band:	Lunarium
Album:	Journeys, Fables And Lore
Style:	Folk metal
Release date:	April 2008

01. Warcry
02. Death Rides (On Winged Glory)
03. Sea Dragons
04. The Divine Infidelity Of A False Prophet
05. Heritage Taken
06. Liberation
07. Hail The Fallen
08. Brothers In Arms
09. Feast Of Sargonnas
10. 1066
11. Elizabeth's Song
12. The Waymen
13. Ale
14. Luna's Wake
15. Trollslayer

Style: Folk Metal
Country: USA
Label: Farvahar Records
Length: 64:01
Recorded: 2007/2008

Line-up:
Nate "Cinnead Loreweaver" Bridenbaugh
Ryan "Rygon Riffaxe" Carroll
JR "Jarloc Darkstar" Carter
Justin "Justyn Van Stokken" Lucas


Before listening to "Journeys, Fables And Lore" all I really knew about it was that it was Folk Metal from a bunch of guys from the USA. This was interesting enough in itself as it isn't a part of the world known for generating Folk Metal. Agalloch have made a name for themselves but even their music is more complicated than basic folk tunes. So I gave this album its first listen and it made me wonder if its classification was entirely accurate. The music contained herein has all of those catchy jigging folk moments which fans of the style have come to like but the whole thing is done with metal instruments. There are no folk instruments present here. For a band that celebrates Celtic history and tales it caused me to feel surprise. It makes the album feel like it's lacking something, but Lunarium have done well to generate a similar feeling with less traditional instruments.

The Folk feeling Lunarium have mustered with this release is due to at times the guitar work resembling catchy tankard-swinging easy-to-hum-along-to folk melodies. As well as that though Nate Bridenbaugh's vocals are rather powerful and bubbly and follow the patters of the folk style guitar well. He also sometimes uses his voice to hum the music or sing the folk style music. In the song "Liberation" for example you hear him going "la la-la-la-la laaa la" to a folkish tune. The vocals are one of the highlights on this release. There are at times acoustic guitars used too which give something at least a little more traditional sounding. So in essence Journeys, Fables And Lore sounds quite good to anyone who likes Folk Metal; it's in the style of Irish folk music, the tunes are interesting and catchy and more than once you find yourself hooked into humming the tunes. Which just about any good Folk Metal album should do really!

Journeys, Fables And Lore isn't without it's problems though. The production isn't great and so it adds a bit of a haze to the music. Apart from the vocals standing out as being good they stand out literally. They sound a lot cleaner than the music and so they're noticeably prominent which can be a bit awkward. Some might find its almost 65 minute length a bit too much for one sitting if they don't like too much of the style at once. The lack of folk instruments as I've mentioned is another small niggle. Maybe I'm just accustomed to their presence in this type of music though. These minor blemishes detract from the album's score a little but overall it's a pretty good release. Fans of Folk Metal would be hard-pressed not to find a least some part of Journeys, Fables And Lore enjoyable.