Band:	Hand Of Kalliach
Album:	Corryvreckan
Style:	Melodic death metal, Folk metal
Release date:	February 23, 2024
A review by:	musclassia

01. Three Seas
02. Fell Reigns
03. Dìoghaltas
04. Cirein-Cròin
05. Deathless
06. The Hubris Of Prince Bhreacan
07. Unbroken You Remain
08. The Cauldron
09. Of Twilight And The Pyre

I’ve always felt that Fallujah are a band that more metal artists should take inspiration from; on Corryvreckan, Hand Of Kalliach demonstrate that they feel the same way.

A husband-wife duo from Edinburgh, Hand Of Kalliach explore their Celtic heritage in their music, both lyrically (with both English and Gaelic lyrics) and musically. Stylistically, Corryvreckan is perhaps most easily described as a combination of folk metal and melodeath, albeit composed in a manner that distinguishes it from acts to which the same labels could apply, such as Amon Amarth, Duskmourn or Suidakra. Part of that is due to the incorporation of Celtic melodies into their songs, but there’s additional elements of Corryvreckan that take it in a very distinctive direction.

Now, the namedrop of Fallujah in the opening of this review isn’t because this is secretly a tech-death album, although there are slightly more complex moments on the likes of “Deathless”. What really resembles that band’s music in Corryvreckan is the ethereal atmosphere that Hand Of Kalliach create, particularly through the use of Sophie Fraser’s spectral vocals throughout the record, which harks back to songs featuring Tori Letzler and Katie Thompson on Fallujah’s albums Dreamless and Empyrean (this is a fully intentional parallel on the part of the Frasers). Sophie Fraser is a fully capable vocalist without these ethereal effects, as demonstrated in the beginning of closing track “Of Twilight And The Pyre”, but the different dynamic that these otherworldly vocals add transforms Corryvreckan.

Beyond these vocals, Corryvreckan has plenty of atmosphere; opening track “Three Seas” has an extended build during which said vocals are joined by reverberating drumbeats, ominous guitar leads (which again have more than a touch of Fallujah to them tonally), and John Fraser’s own growls, all coming together in a swell of tension before the song transitions into something more conventionally metallic halfway through, even with those ethereal textures remaining in the mix. In spite of its 5-minute length, “Three Seas” retains a feeling throughout of being a prelude to something else; with the ear-catching folk melody kicking off “Fell Reigns”, it feels like the album is fully out the blocks.

One of the songs most rooted in a folk vibe, “Fell Reigns” mostly relies of bassy low-end chugs as the backdrop beneath the melodic guitar leads; subsequent tracks offer a more rambunctious melodeath sound, such as “Dioghaltas” and “Cirein-Cròin”. Neither of these songs exhibit much of a folk feel, but “Cirein-Cròin” still goes into dreamy territory when the ethereal vocals are brought into play amidst the driving metallic grooves. I must admit I do enjoy Corryvreckan more when it is bringing the folk elements more into play, even if the melodies are more subtle tremolos, such as in “The Hubris Of Prince Bhreacan”.

I do think there’s a bit of a risk of overdoing a good thing with the style that Hand Of Kalliach have established on this record; while the Fallujah-esque cleans are inherently charming, they do come in danger of being overused across Corryvreckan. I find this more so the case in the less folky songs; in particular, “Unbroken You Remain” has a straight-nosed melodeath sound, and when it fluctuates towards choruses with the effects-laden clean vocals and back again, it doesn’t feel like an entirely natural juxtaposition, and both segments come off a bit dry. To a lesser extent, I have similar issues with “Dioghaltas” and “Deathless”.

Still, when the songwriting is on form, I do really appreciate what the duo are coming up with. “Fell Reigns” is an obvious highlight on Corryvreckan, but closing track “Of Twilight And The Pyre” is also very enjoyable; opening with the most folksy passage of the record as Sophie Fraser’s natural voice sings above dainty strings and woodwind, it eventually evolves into more extreme metal, but it retains the sad, nostalgic tone established in the opening minutes and rounds out the record in moving fashion.

There’s room for improvement in terms of consistency and in extracting the most out of their particular unique musical weapon without overexposing it, but Corryvreckan is a very intriguing exploration of a concept that I’d been curious to hear more of back when Fallujah released Dreamless, and one that finds those ethereal vocals working well alongside charming Celtic-inspired metal.