Taranis - Kingdom

Traditionally, Taranis is an iron age Celtic wheel-god, from back in the days when the Celts still controlled a lot of Western Europe. However, before the Romans came and smashed them around 50 BC, Celtic culture spread and influenced many peoples around the Danube, affecting places such as what is today Romania, Slovakia and Hungary, and their influence continues in the case of one modern-day Hungarian: Atilla Bakos, mastermind behind a new metal project of the same name as aforementioned god of the wheel. There are no notably Celtic musical elements to the music however, or Hungarian ones for that matter. Taranis opts rather for the path of a more homogenized, generic folk metal.

Bakos  released a lone demo under this moniker all the way back in 2000, and then split up three years later and it is only now since the one-man reformation last year that we get a second release, the full-length debut album Kingdom. One could simply say that Taranis create epic black metal, but the words folk, progressive, and symphonic all arise here. The album consists of four epic tracks lasting roughly ten minutes each. Taranis’ strong point definitely lies in his progressive, symphonic melodies, although this is also where he fails as well. While there are many well-written tunes to enjoy, their application is not always top-shelf. Although quite a well-produced album, the keyboard tones reek of old-school symphonic black and are just a bit cheesy and overused. The singing also loses some of its effect, as Bakos is inclined to a lot of passionate moments using clean vocals, and his voice swings somewhat out of control. I feel that the heartfelt sound he’s going for would be benefit greatly from a less dramatic sobriety and some more professional training or practice to really rein that voice in and only use as much of it as is needed. Although sometimes his voice can sound nice, other times its escalations really grated on me and tainted the song. Complaints aside, however, Kingdom is still an enjoyable album with some nice moments of beauty and grandeur, one that may even gain a cult following in some circles.

In short: Very epic but flawed and unoriginal progressive folk/black metal.

Standout tracks: Glory, Storm

Score: 6.5