Reviews: medieval

(traditional folk / celtic / world)

The Soil Bleeds Black – Alchemie

Alchemie originally appeared on the now defunct label World Serpent in 1999. It was the fourth album for the American neo-medievalists The Soil Bleeds Black, a project centered around the Riddick brothers. Their label The Fossil Dungeon has now made this album available again, in a joint venture with Argentina’s Twilight Records. The second edition comes […]

Dandelion Wine – An inexact science

Naomi Henderson and Nicholas Albanis are Dandelion Wine. “An Inexact Science” is the third release of them. It contains music they themselves describe as medieval ethereal, post-dreampop. A strange description for music, then again the Melbourne-duo might be right, let’s just have a listen.

Medusa’s Spell – Mercurian Behaviour

Mercurian Behaviour is not just an ambient album. Medusa’s Spell plays music that is like a blending of ambient and ethereal pop.

Corvus Corax – Venus Vina Musica

To most people the sound of Corvus Corax will be clear. Their powerful medieval sound has made them famous beyond the gothic scene, where they were first picked up. This new cd is about a minstrel traveling in to the East in search for a legendary dancer called Sanyogita. The expectation is raised that the […]

Artesia – Hilvern

Prikosnovénie has started a new series of releases for new talents called “Nové”. Artesia is the first band to release in this series. This young French duo delivers a tragical and dark sounding classic gothic album.

Caprice – Elvenmusic 3: Tales Of The Uninvited

Caprice has already delivered several beautiful albums filled with wonderful poetic fairy world music. As the title suggests this new album is part three in the series of albums on which the music is inspired by faeries and elves and more concrete the poems of Tolkien.

Love Sessions 2

Francesco Banchini, Louisa John-Krol and Lys teamed up for volume two in the Love Sessions series. The result is a beautiful album with mediterranean folk with ethereal elements.

Kamilya Jubran & Werner Hasler – Wameedd

Kamilya Jubran and Werner Hasler’s ‘Wameedd’ has been self-described as a symbiotic creational process and interpretation of Arabic words and phonetic rhythms.

Djilia Phralengo – Oracle

This act with the difficult name is mainly a solo project of Ernesto Villarreal, a multi-instrumentalist. On this album Villareal plays an original mixture of gypsy and renaissance music.

Louisa John-Krol – Apple Pentacle

For people who follow the Prikosnovénie label Louisa John Krol is not a stranger. This musician combines ethereal pop in the tradition of Loreena Mc Kennit and Kate Bush with folk influences.

The Moon and the Nightspirit – Of Dreams Forgotten and Fables Untold

The Moon and the Nightspirit, a duo from Hungary, creates ethereal music full of mystery and romance. On their debut album they offer nine purely acoustic songs with clear folkloristic and medieval elements.

Pinknruby – Garden

On their new album Pinknruby sound more mature then before. Their ethereal acoustic folkpop style is still present but the compositions sound more diverse and the instrumentation is richer.

Valravn – Krunk

The sound of Valravn is in the first song very traditional, unpolished and raw. Thus very different from the tight produced electronic dance and ambient folk of related band Sorten Muld.

Keltia – Face ? Face

Keltia is a young Belgian musician, who creates folky, Celtic-inspired music, carried by her harp playing and chanted vocals. She is back with a cd, created with a band.

Banchini, Francesco – Ciganko: A Mediterranean Adventure

Francesco Banchini is the musician behind GOR. With GOR he plays medieval orientated music. This new album, released under his own name, is a true Mediterranean folk album. Ciganko is a beautiful album with atmospheric and relaxing music. The clarinet and the German flute have a prominent role. These instruments produce wonderful melancholy sounds…

Corvus Corax – Cantus Buranus

One of the best known medieval bands plays one of the best known pieces of medieval music: Corvus Corax takes on the Carmina Burana. After about twenty years of playing and fifteen albums, the medieval big band has the guts to step into the difficult world of a classical masterpiece. The first thing about this version that you will hear is the grotesque feeling and the bombastic character…

O Quam Tristis – Méditations ultimes

This is the third album by O Quam Tristis. I find it impressive to hear how the band improves with each album. Both musically and in song writing the band has grown a lot since the first album. What is the most remarkable about Méditations Ultimes is the use of atypical electronic rhythms in the music…

V/A – Summoning of the Muse

This is not the first album in honour of the influential group Dead Can Dance, and probably not the last. Cleopatra for instance released the tribute “Carnival Within” in 1997, with unlikely participants like Leaetherstrip. Last year the partly succeeded double cd “The Lotus Eaters” appeared on a Greek label, with both bands from the gothic and metal scene taking part…

Truppo Trotto – Månemælk

Like Ars Ultima, Truppo Trotto is a crazy band playing medieval music. And like Ars Ultima they have a style of their own. Their music is unpolished and the songs have a very authentic feeling. You hear the organic sounds of fiddles, drums, bagpipes and many more traditional instruments. The Danish lyrics make their music complete and original…

Olen`K – Silently Noisy

Olen’k was one of the surprises on the Cold Meat Industry compilation cd Flowers Made Of Snow. The debut album of the band opens with ‘Season Of Tears’, the track that was featured on this compilation. Even after hearing this song many times it stays a magical track with a beautiful serene atmosphere. Despite its tranquil nature the song is powerful and very lively…