Release Date: March 19, 2013
Label: Metalhit
Under The Ancient Oak is the debut album by American folk metal band, Moonroot. Comprised of Dawn Desireé alongside Mark and Michael Riddick, the band sonically creates a mythological world of Celtic wonder and strife, but fails to provide the proper tour guides. Desireé's operatic vocals, medieval recorders, and cartoony guitars will make you headbang, dance, and enjoy the Celtic countryside until the first track ends. It's almost as if the guides provided just aren't into the rest of the journey. Were the entire album a country and each song a village: the arrangements show you each village enjoyably, but the tours just become less interesting as they bring you deeper into the country.
The album kicks off with an Iron Maiden-type riff in “The Hunt For The Hunter,” an excellent track that introduces the cartoony distortion present throughout the album and sets the bar high for the release. However the follow up track, “Once Upon A Sidhe Mound,” sounds a bit more like a church hymn and is completely out of place at the top of the track list. Desireé's soprano voice flows surprisingly well with the mayhem and thrash that surrounds her on the album's fast tracks including “Haunted Waters Of Duinn,” “The Fiery Spear Of Lugh” and “Dreamchild.”
The album has Celtic folk flesh and blood but a metal skeleton, that which can be heard in the bass and drums in almost every song. Though the songs seem somewhat random in their placing, each song is able to shine on its own. Because of this, it's hard to tell whether or not Moonroot rock harder then they play a mystic melody or vice versa, but what remains clear is that Moonroot can make folk music headbangable. Under The Ancient Oak is a worthy listen that will most definitely take a few times to get used, but once you learn to enjoy each track on its own you can realize the album's best qualities.
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