Keith Fay formed Cruachan in 1992 after Minas Tirith broke up. John Fay and John Clohessy were recruited along with other members who have since departed. Later on Karen Gilligan joined the band. 

With a love for Celtic music, history and mythology, they sought to incorporate this into their music and lyrics, on a scale that had never been done before. They certainly reached that aim. Cruachan is a Folk Metal band with Pagan as their fourth album. Pagan is a pretty nice album to listen to. With the right combination of folklore and metal, the album is very well produced. It's powerful but on the other hand an album which brings joy while listening to it. Joy formed by the nice sounds of the typical Irish folklore music. Sometimes there is a little bit too much folklore, which almost makes you forget that you're actually listening to metal. But then, after a short moment of silence the metal comes back with the great combination of the Irish instruments and the metal-guitar riffs. As I said before, the album contains a little bit too much folklore. The melodies are catchy but the problem on this album is that the melodies hardly change, in every song the same melody comes back which makes it a bit boring to listen to. Fortunately the lyrics are very well considered which makes you forget about the boring melodies. The start of the album is also very well thought out. Songs like 'Michael Collins' and 'Pagan' will grab your attention immediately, and with 'Some Say the Devil is Dead' Cruachan reminds the listener to the Irish roots of the band. Though there is nothing wrong with the song, it doesn't fit on the album at all; an album of Dropkick Murphy's would be a better place for this song. 

Pagan is just the album that will make any Cruachan-fan very happy, it possesses all the trademarks; heavy guitars, folk arrangements, female vocals, the Black Metal touch and Irish instruments. Combine all this with the beautiful, fantasy artwork, created by the official Lord of the Rings-illustrator John Howe, and Pagan is definitely worth it for any Folk Metal fan.

Review by BoEk