Cruachan

Play Radio
Listen to Cruachan Radio, featuring artists like Waylander, Folkearth, Alkonost, Skyclad and more…

1,914,556 plays (79,184 listeners)

Shop now at Amazon | Send Cruachan Ringtones to Cell
Buy
Add to my Library

Dublin, Ireland (1992 – 1997, 1999 – present)

Cruachan (kroo-a-khawn) is a band from Dublin, Ireland that has been active since the 1990s. They have been acclaimed as having “gone the greatest lengths of anyone in their attempts to expand” the genre of . They are recognised as one of the founders of the genre of folk metal. With a specific focus on music and the use of Celtic mythology in their lyrics, Cruachan’s style of folk metal is known as Celtic metal. The band named themselves after the archaeological site of Rathcroghan in Ireland also known as Cruachan.

Keith Fay had formed a Tolkien-inspired band by the name of Minas Tirith in 1991. Around the same time, he began listening to more music and picked up Skyclad’s debut album the wayward sons of mother earth. Originally released in 1990, this “ambitious” and “groundbreaking” album made an impact on Fay and he set out to combine black metal with the folk music of Ireland. In 1992, Keith Fay formed Cruachan with a demo recording distributed in 1993. Keith Fay also credits the Irish rock band Horslips as a “huge influence on Cruachan,” further noting that “what they were doing in the 70’s is the equivalent of what we do now.”

The year 1995 saw the release of Cruachan’s debut album Tuatha Na Gael, an album that “suffered under poor production.” On the strength of this album, the band received attention from Century Media. The band found it amazing to receive interest from “such a big label” but were dismayed at the terms and conditions of the offered recording deal. They refused to sign a “very poor contract” that would have given the record label “the rights to change every aspect of our music.
Read more… Edit bio

Popular tags: , , , ,  See more

Share this artist:

Top Albums

  • Folk-Lore
    Cruachan Play
    Buy
  • Pagan
    Cruachan Play
    Buy
  • The Middle Kingdom
    Cruachan Play
    Buy
  • Blood on the Black Robe
    Cruachan Play
    Buy
See more

Top Tracks

1
202
2
136
3
83
3
83
5
77
6
76
7
71
8
69
8
69
10
67
11
65
12
62
13
57
14
55
15
54
Buy all tracks at Amazon MP3
See more

Shoutbox

Leave a comment. Log in to Last.fm or sign up (it’s free).
See all 337 shouts

Videos

See more

Events

See more Add event

Listening Now

Top Listeners

See more

More Information

Links
Labels