Mael Mórda, according to Irish lore, was a key player and adversary to High King Brian Boru in the Battle of Clontarf on Good Friday in 1014. The battle was considered to be the greatest in early Irish history. The body count was so high, that nearly all of the Viking forces were wiped out, including their leaders, and the Irish lost upwards of 4,000 and were kingless.
Now that the background has been established, the band Mael Mórda have set out to bring back the oral tradition and to continue the tale they started on the previous album Cluain Tarbh. With their latest release, Gaeltacht Mael Mórdha (Gaeltacht: Irish-speaker or Irish-speaking lands), we can see that their retelling is as dramatic as the tale itself.
Forging doom metal and Gaelic folk traditions, Mael Mórda is known to take to the stage in garb akin to Mel Gibson’s character in Braveheart. Irish-core, anyone?
Now, the music itself isn’t too remarkable, though they combine sludgy moods with a dramatic voice and a bit of piano and penny whistle (to anchor them to their folk roots). At first the vocals may at times sound like they are searching for the right note, but with the knowledge of their background, it makes sense (think Dolores Dolores O’Riordan of the Cranberries or Sinead O’Connor, pumped with some testosterone and raising a battle axe to the sky, and you’re getting there).
However, if you need a soundtrack for riding into battle in the highlands of the Emerald Isle, here it is.
