After Enigma

Ceredwen

O'r Mabinogi

The tracks on this album are long and varied (lengths range from roughly four to ten minutes), creating the effect of one album-length work rather than a collection of disparate songs. While I generally endorse this sort of album composition, it makes it difficult to pick favorite tracks. The first, Porth Annwn, is reprstentative of the album, and has a good beat. If I had to pick a favorite, though, it would probably be track five; at a marathon nine and a half minutes, Tir Gwastraff probably has the highest emotional payoff on the album.

While the vocals are occasionally reminiscent of Enya's, they fail to duplicate the feeling of serenity inspired by Enya's albums. Fans of more traditional celtic vocals should be fine with this, but those seeking angelic voices might want to look elsewhere. I suspect the backing music will appeal to a larger audience, given its combination of celtic pipes, whistles and flutes with synth pads and light sequencing. The drums and percussion on this album deserve special mention - they are an unusual and interesting intermingling of the drum loops typical of the Enigma-genre with traditional celtic percussion.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to predict whether you will like Ceredwen before you have heard them. O'r Mabinogi does not fit squarely into any one genre, even the ambiguous Enigma-genre. It is not Celtic with a touch of New Age, nor Enigma-genre with a touch of Celtic - it truly is a fusion album, and must be appreciated on its own terms.