Artist: Dalriada
Album: Napisten Hava
Release date: September 29, 2012 through Hammer Music / Nail Records
Dalriada is a Hungarian folk metal band which may not be the most familiar to a wider audience, but nevertheless has a tremendous discography and a successful career. Their latest album „Napisten Hava“, is the 7th studio album which continues an interesting tradition. Namely, six of seven album titles have ancient names for months (“Fergeteg” is the name for January, “Jégbontó” for February, “Kikelet” for March, “Szelek” for April, while “Ígéret” stands for May). Likewise, “Napisten” is the name for June, and the name of the album means “The Month of the Sungod”.
The first song on the album is what is probably the most famous Hungarian national dance, “czardas”, followed by the song “A Dudás”, which depicts a bagpipe player. The song is about a Hungarian myth which says that bagpipe players had to go all the way to hell to learn how to play this ancient instrument. The song, of course, starts with the sound of bagpipe, but we can also hear an interesting combination of guitar and violin. It's not a novelty that Dalriada uses wide range of instruments in their songs, so here we can hear contrabass, flute, viola, even lute.
The next song is a patriotic song with a slower rhythm called “Tündérkert” or “The Fairy Garden”. The idea for such a beautiful and picturesque title comes from the Romanian province Transylvania where a great number of Hungarians live. Since the lyrics often speak of Hungarian history, it is clear why the province was so inspiring. Namely, there have always existed tensions between Romanians and Hungarians. Also, many famous Hungarians were born there, for example Mátyás Corvin, one of the greatest Hungarian-Croatian kings. His father, János Hunyadi, is also shown as the hero of the song “Hunyadi és Kapisztrán Nándorfehérvári Diadaláról (Saltarello)”. The song is about the battle of Belgrade which took place in the middle of the 15th century, when Hunyadi and Saint John of Capistrano defeated a strong Ottoman army. The beginning of the song has a slow tempo and the listener can easily imagine a picture of a slow-marching army, while later the song speeds up and conjures up assault and fight. Similarly, two other songs, “Julianus Útja” and “Puszta Föld” also have the historical background. In all three songs male vocals complement the female voice.
The song “Napom, Fényes Napom” has a beautiful intro melody where we can hear the virtuosity of the violin player and how wonderfully a violin can sound.
The title song “Napisten Hava” talks about the origin of the world. The story is based on a Hungarian traditional story, while “A Juhászlegény Balladája” has its origin in a Moldavian-Hungarian horror story.
“Borivók Éneke” is a typical call for a drink. However, the drink of this song is not the traditional Hungarian pálinka, nor beer, but wine. The song has a very fast rhythm and a melody from a Hungarian traditional song. Besides “A Dudás”, this song will definitely become a hit for the concerts!
The album has a perfect composition, with the first song as an instrumental as well as the last song on the album, this time a slow dance from a place called Gyimes.
The first song on the album is what is probably the most famous Hungarian national dance, “czardas”, followed by the song “A Dudás”, which depicts a bagpipe player. The song is about a Hungarian myth which says that bagpipe players had to go all the way to hell to learn how to play this ancient instrument. The song, of course, starts with the sound of bagpipe, but we can also hear an interesting combination of guitar and violin. It's not a novelty that Dalriada uses wide range of instruments in their songs, so here we can hear contrabass, flute, viola, even lute.
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| Dalriada at Samhainfest 2012 |
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| Dalriada at Rockmaraton 2012 |
The song “Napom, Fényes Napom” has a beautiful intro melody where we can hear the virtuosity of the violin player and how wonderfully a violin can sound.
The title song “Napisten Hava” talks about the origin of the world. The story is based on a Hungarian traditional story, while “A Juhászlegény Balladája” has its origin in a Moldavian-Hungarian horror story.
“Borivók Éneke” is a typical call for a drink. However, the drink of this song is not the traditional Hungarian pálinka, nor beer, but wine. The song has a very fast rhythm and a melody from a Hungarian traditional song. Besides “A Dudás”, this song will definitely become a hit for the concerts!
The album has a perfect composition, with the first song as an instrumental as well as the last song on the album, this time a slow dance from a place called Gyimes.
Dalriada - A Dudás (official video)
