Album Review: Dalriada - "Kikelet"

Band: Dalriada (Hungary)
Album Title: Kikelet
Label: Nail Records (Hungary)
Released: 2007

Dalriada, formerly known as Echo of Dalriada, has to be one of my favorite discoveries of 2007. Grounded in Hungarian folk music, and sounding completely unlike anything I've ever heard, their albums are both immediately pleasing and yet hold up under repeated listens. They were first brought to my attention on the Viking Blood messageboard, when someone posted a Youtube link to the video for their song "Téli ének" from 2006's Jégbontó and I was immediately enchanted by vocalist Laura Binder's unique (in this genre anyway) style. She doesn't have a typical metal voice at all; it sounds more like a traditional Hungarian folk voice. It took me longer to get used to the vocals of founding member Andras Ficzek, who sometimes sounds like he's really straining to hit the notes. After a while, Andras' vocals became part of the great charm of this lovely folk metal band.

Although I immediately fell in love with Dalriada's sound, it took me several months before I was able to track down their albums. Unfortunately, they seem to have little to no distribution outside of their native Hungary, and I had to get them from a (very nice) Hungarian seller on Ebay. First I acquired the two albums released under their previous name, Echo of Dalriada, and then about a month later acquired Kikelet. The debut, Fergeteg, is a good CD, though it pales in comparison to Jégbontó, which quickly became one of my very favorite folk metal albums. Jégbontó is full of songs that are catchy, beautiful, accessible, and yet still very deep, with so many melody and key changes that it's pretty much impossible to predict where a song is going to go until you've listened to it several times. While this may sound daunting, the band's sound is so enjoyable that it seems to flow naturally.

With the release of Kikelet, not much has changed since Jégbontó despite the band name being shortened. The songs aren't as immediately catchy and accessible as they are on Jégbontó, though with repeated listens it begins to make sense and I began to enjoy it just as much. A standout track is the single "Táltosének," which is available as an mp3 download from Dalriada's website (and can be heard on their Myspace page). Though catchier and perhaps not as complex as the rest of the songs on the album, it is nonetheless a great introduction to the band, with an absolutely addicting chorus (thanks to Laura Binder's infectious vocal lines and some solid backing vocals).

Andras Ficzek handles quite a bit of the vocal duties on this album, and in addition to his normal sung vocals gives an occasional black metal shriek (on track 8, "Tűzhozó"). Excellent drumming by Tadeusz Rieckmann is also worthy of mention. The band sounds tight; obviously they are all very talented musicians, and work quite well together. There are a few really nice violin parts as well. I don't know who plays the violin on this album, whether it's a band member or a session musician, but it sounds great. I will also mention the production, as it's fantastic and lets the listener hear every fine detail of the performances.

I find myself gushing with praise for this band, but they deserve it. Dalriada will probably never have the international success they deserve, which is usually the case with bands in this genre, but I feel Dalriada has a lot of potential for a wider audience if only that audience had access to their albums. They are a refreshing and totally unique band, and I would recommend them to anyone. I realize, reading back at my review, that I've been pretty vague about what the band sounds like. I think it's because I would much rather play the album for a person than try to describe it, as I'm not very good at describing music. For anyone who is interested, I recommend going here or here and listening to some of their mp3's. I know I say this a lot, but this is a band that is really worth going through the trouble of finding their albums.