Morrigan: Celts

Morrigan's third album, dating to a 2003 release, just a year after their second platter, opens with atmospheric chanting melancholia, exuding feelings that resemble the resignation of oneself to battle, or perhaps the battle of life itself.  It progresses to the aptly titled 'Giants of Stone', the longest slice of music they had taken on at that point, slow-paced in the mould of something that could almost have appeared on Bathory's Twilight of the Gods album and complete with a fantastic solo that is at once clumsy and emotive.  But Celts may lull the listener into a false sense of comfort, because immediately following is the vicious 'Warstained Iron', re-asserting the Morrigan trend of alternating slow pieces with faster, more violent compositions.

'Mists of Mag Oa Cheo' is further down the trail, mid-paced Black Metal with an epic feel, after which 'Reappearance' delivers more of the same (suffixed with a doomy Quorthon-esque finale).  'Through the Halls of Ice' takes things down a gear or two.  'Staring in the Eyes of Cruchullain' is one of the best tracks on the album, a grinding riff, periodically overlaid acoustics, choral backing vocals, a Hammerheart feel throughout (albeit with the trademark Beliar rasp leading the vocals).  The heaviness and raw grind of the guitars, particularly evident in 'Staring...', I think may have been crafted with the addition of a second guitarist - Baldur (Tobias Fafner) - here, although this was unfortunately the only Morrigan album he would appear on.  'Era Reiks Formore' picks up the aggression once again, with a cool mid-paced middle section.  Whilst not bad as such, chaos-infused 'Cursing the Beheaded' is probably my least favourite on the CD, although it does begin with a strong two minute doom-laden intro demonstrating orchestral leanings before the raw thrash metal assault of the main track.  'Dance of the Leprechauns' is the crown of the platter, a middle-gear fantasy epic which also happens to be ever so slightly folky.  The final proper slice of music continues another Morrigan tradition of creatively using the word 'bitch' somewhere in a title, the sexy and slightly speedy 'Bitchcraft' taking place before Celts finishes as it started with an instrumental outro that finally allows the bludgeoned listener to relax.

A later reissue of the CD by Undercover Records included the excellent 'Dead Forever' as a welcome bonus, a track that Morrigan completed for a 2004 split single with Greek underground Black Metal outfit Nocturnity providing their example for side B.  This is the version of Celts that I own, the cover (pictured) differing in design compared to the original release.

At sixty five minutes (not counting the bonus track, which notches it to seventy two) I would say the album is too long for such an intense experience, and if I had a choice I would have excised 'Cursing the Beheaded' and possibly 'Era Reiks Formore', not because they are bad tracks at all, rather because it would have tightened Celts somewhat - few albums sustain over an hour of music without getting a bit much to sit through in one go.  That, however, is my only real complaint.  Celts is otherwise my second favourite outing of Morrigan, one where they stepped a little away from being mere Bathory clones towards embellishing that classic influence with their own personality to a greater extent.  A solid album, one which Black Metal fans should seek out one way or another.