Melodic death metal and Scottish folk music duo HAND OF KALLIACH has released their sophomore album, Corryvreckan, via Prosthetic Records. The husband and wife pair has also shared a lyric video for Crirein-cròin, which tells the tale of a mythological sea monster, with portions of the lyrics taking inspiration from Gaelic poetry.
HAND OF KALLIACH – CIREIN-CRÒIN (OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO) – YouTube
Speaking on the album release, HAND OF KALLIACH’s John (vocals, guitars, drums) comments: “We’re absolutely thrilled to be able to unleash the full torrent of melodeath and ethereal folk that is Corryvreckan. Named after the enormous whirlpool between some of the western Scottish isles, the album is focussed on the reign of the Cailleach, the Scottish Celtic witch god of winter, and the foul designs of her churning Corryvreckan cauldron.”
Vocalist and bassist, Sophie adds: “We’ve poured even more mythology into this album, and have pushed even further on the contrasting sonic extremities of our previous album, Samhainn. We hope you join us in the midst of the Cailleach’s harsh and haunting winter, and find the Hag God’s salvation submerged in the dark depths of the legendary Corryvreckan.”
Of Cirein- cròin’s release, John continues: „Cirein-cròin is named after a gargantuan, shapeshifting sea monster from Scottish mythology. It was so large it was said to eat seven whales a day, in fact the chorus that Sophie sings is a Gaelic child’s poem we added a melody to, that translates to:
Seven herrings a salmon’s meal,
Seven salmon a seal’s meal,
Seven seals a whale’s meal,
Seven whales a Cirein-cròin’s meal.”
Sophie shared: „There’s no consensus on what it looked like, so in our lyrics (and you might have noticed it on the album artwork) we opted for a colossal scaled serpent. While it’s true size was impossibly massive, it disguised itself as a small silver herring in order to lure prey, including fishermen, before unfurling and expanding to its true size. The lyrics are focussed on the transformation from innocuous fish into the resulting Lovecraftian nightmare, from the perspective of an unfortunate observer….”
