Band:	Dalriada
Album:	Áldás
Style:	Folk metal
Release date:	September 06, 2015
Guest review by:	nightwica

01. Intro
02. Amit Ad Az Ég (Álmos Búcsúja)
03. Dózsa Rongyosa
04. Úri Toborzó
05. Áldás
06. Világfa
07. Zivatar
08. Moldvageddon
09. Hamu És Gyász
10. Futóbetyár
11. Fele Zivatar

The music of Dalriada could be called folk metal from the very beginning, but the way they approach this style has changed a lot over the years. In their earlier releases, folk was only subtly present. Of course, it was melodic, with some melodies played by the keyboard and the flute, but it was still heavily guitar-driven. As Kikelet and Napisten Hava got released, string instruments became more and more important. With Áldás, they leveled up once again.

If somebody asks me what it is that I like the most about their music, I would definitely include those epic choruses, and the way the voices of Laura Binder and András Ficzek just blend into each other, creating a sweet balance. Seems like Áldás is basically fulfilling my musical wishes, since the whole album is focusing on melodies and celestial choruses? A word has to be said about the mixing as well, because the keyboards and especially the bass guitars are just so clear, it is awesome!

I could really go on about the singing for ages. One of the best thing about Dalriada's music is the voice of András; it is unique and much more than remarkable. He is strong, sometimes fierce, sometimes pampering, and in the song "Zivatar" he reaches some crazy heights. That song is a masterpiece anyway, an orgy of melodies. Its brother, the acoustic "Fele Zivatar" is the closing track of the album. It is like a prayer accompanied by just a single guitar, full of sentiments.

We could say the balance between the lighter, happier songs and more poetic, melancholic-artistic songs is really good. There are also many interesting parts. Violin solo? Harpsichord metal? Guitar solo accompanied by a piano? Metal a capella in Van Canto style? All really possible in Dalriada's music! Another motif the earlier Dalriada has already implemented comes back as well: using traditional melodies of the Csángó folk music, from the Transylvanian Carpathians. Several songs ("Hazatérés," "Ígéret," "Julianus útja," "Kinizsi Mulatsága") had those folkish parts, and "Moldvageddon" follows this tradition, spiced up with some psychedelia and musical amok-running. As a real Armageddon it comes and explodes, destroying everything.

Then the following song, "Hamu És Gyász" brings us back to the ground (if this were a dark humour metal review page, I would even add "under the ground," since this song is about death and farewell). Fortunately the album doesn't really include harsh vocals; this song is one of the exceptions, and the style fits it well. Dalriada has written several farewell-themed songs ("Búcsúzó," "Igazi Tűz"), but in a way, both of them were somewhat positive and included a sparkle of hope in them. On the contrary, "Hamu És Gyász" is an angry, unforgiving, disillusioned piece, where growling fits in well.

It would be rather incorrect to mention Dalriada along with those typical pub-beer-folk metal bands. This group puts a much bigger emphasis on epic power metal, touching melodies and lyrics. They are evolving the power part towards more and more monumental formulas (this can be clearly seen from the fact that they pretty much broke the Hungarian record for the most tracks recorded and used in a single song), and making the folk parts more detailed, too. Such a catharsis of melodies could almost seem as meant for effect or too much, but damn, it is done on a very high niveau from the first second to the last, so who cares?!