Here we have 'The Morrigan's Call', a new album from one of the older European folkmetalbands. In the past Cruachan did not reach the top of the genre. This was mostly because of the productional values of earlier work. Fortunately 'The Morrigan's Call' has got a good sound but the scene has caught up with them. The vocals by Karen Gilligan are more than adequate. The additional screaming and grunting vocals however still remain a point of discussion. Personally I rather hear clean male vocals in combination with folkmetal and the deathish/blackisch material is Cruachan's weakspot.
On with the album....Until the vocals join in on "The Brown Bull Of Cooley" I'm really having the feeling of listening to an old Skyclad song and the acoustic guitar intro of "The Great Hunger" could have been on any later Bathory album. The Poguesish tune 'The Old Woman in the Woods' and the cover 'The Very Wild Rover' are happy tunes on the album. Apart from these comparisons Cruachan do have their own sound, mostly achieved by the variation within the songs and Gilligan's vocals. The album is a definate step forward and I'm sure their fanbase will not be disappointed. Yet sometimes cohesion within the songmaterial seems to be lost. It's good to build in some varation but some changes of pace, breaks and bridges in songs such as 'The Great Hunger' and 'Teir abhail Ru' really feel out of place. It gives the compositions a 'copy/paste' feeling like listening to a medley and therefor doesn't do the material any good.
So still I have the feeling Cruachan can actually do much better.