Mythical sweeping enchantments

MEDIA FEEDBACK:

►► Samhainn • Album • 2021◄◄

10 / 10
"HAND OF KALLIACH have proven that this genre can be just as blistering. The sound is powerful, the vocals are savage and ethereal, the tracks are a perfect blend of catchy and heavy. For me, this is a strong contender for debut album of the year. I completely vibe with this album and it is a personal favourite of mine."
(Lindsay’s This Day In Metal Album Reviews)

9,5 / 10
"… this is 100 % going into my Top 5 Album Of The Year list … weaves perfectly between history, mythology and land/seascapes of the Scottish islands …"
(Ever Metal)

4,7 / 5
"… brilliant record … absolutely fascinating … 'Samhainn' just detonates as a whole piece … truly unlike anything else …" "
(The Metal Wanderlust)

4,5 / 5
"… vocals are clearly running the show … pacing and songwriting are excellent … perfect balance between clarity, atmosphere, and power … one of the best debuts of the year …"
(Heavy Music HQ)

9 / 10
"A multi-layered album, with vibrant, lively atmospherics, it manages to combine two essentially opposing vocal styles and make them work, within a genre-straddling sound, whilst staying true to its Celtic roots … marrying melody with rhythm, throughout, it makes for an evocatively haunting listen."
(Rock Queen Reviews)

9 / 10
"… blend of heavy-as-anything Melodeath & Folk melodies … a truly unique & endlessly repeatable album …"
(URN Headbangers)

4 / 5
(Le Blog: Metal)

8,25 / 10
"… made of charming and fine contrasts … with very good melodies entangle with brutal parts … for a first album, it’s an excellent result, so the future is pointing to the duet as one driving force in the Folk Metal scene."
(Metal Mind Reflections)

8 / 10
"… a great amount of melody … decent mixture …"
(A Different Shade Of Black Metal)

7,5 / 10
"... immensely creative ... prove impressively that Folk Metal doesn't always have to be cheerful and kitschy, but can also be frosty and brute, but without renouncing the necessary melodies ... varied and well played ... the sound is clear and powerful ... if you like more brute Folk Metal bands like Cruachan, Celtachor or Waylander, you should take a closer look at HAND OF KALLIACH from Scotland."
(Crossfire Metal)

7,5 / 10
"... a roller coaster of emotions ... acoustic-slow-quiet-melodic-beautiful-feminine-tender ... aggressive-bitter-hard-loud-masculine-fast-distorted ... the mixture makes it: personally I like 'Samhainn' very much, because in its acoustic moments it reminds me of melodic meditators like Enya, Loreena McKennitt and Sally Oldfield, in its next electric ones of all kinds of destroyers."
(Bleeding4Metal)

3,5 / 5
"… mesmerizing … beautiful … absolutely atmospheric … we must thank Sophie and john for being able to generate that album with such high level of passion and musicianship …"
(The Headbanging Moose)

3,5 / 5
"… pretty well done … melodic parts are haunting and moody, while the aggressive metal parts are heavy enough, if not really groundbreaking …"
(The Metal Crypt)

7 / 10
"… schwungvoller, recht tief gestimmter Melodic Death Metal … werden immer wieder Folklore-Sprenkler eingebracht … sehr charakteristisch … gut hörbare Lieder …"
(Dark Festivals)

7 / 10
"… harsh blackened death male vocals, sprinkled with soft female soprano clean vocals from Sophie (like a siren from the North Seas) … catchy tremolos … seem to put the listener into a trance … a great sophomore release … have redefined their style in a positive way … highly recommended for fans of Saor, Autumn Tears, and Amon Amarth …" …"
(Folk Metal NL)

7 / 10
"… enigmatic … a brilliant piece of counter-thought … fluorescent folk melodies … a magical piece of Metal …"
(Scream Blast Repeat)

7 / 10
"… listened to with pleasure … everything is in the right place … have already found their sound … at the same time they have improved the quality of the songs compared to the previous release: in these times characterized by sonic immobilism and search for the 'easy' and winning solution is certainly not little …"
(Mister Folk)

"… bringing together energy and octane performance … thunders and slowly moves into the workmanship of time … powerful … turns things to something new and promising … shows off heart and fury …"
(The Median Man)

"… sophisticated and inspired assemblage … lot of elegance and strength and about halfway through the album very high points … Sophie's voice that reaches tones that remind us of the great Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance … very interesting and well done … breathtaking … without fear of being wrong, I can say that HAND OF KALLIACH are one of the pleasant surprises of this 2021 …"
(El Lado Oscuro Metal)

"… a powerful effort that has more than enough reason to capture any ear that comes by it … HAND OF KALLIACH has certifiably elevated themselves to another level altogether to make them one of the newest bands of Folk Metal that absolutely needs to be watched …"
(Head-Banger Reviews)

"… enchanting … beautiful … excellent … a very dynamic sound … haunting melodies and patterns 'pierce' the listener … a musical journey not to be missed."
(Fuzzy Hound)

"… beautiful, but it can also be fierce and cruel … between the two extremes, with atmospheric passages and brutal Blackened Death played off against each other. Never in a jarring way, though. The balance between these two extremes is one of the main triumphs of this album … you can feel the love that has been poured into this … with 'Samhainn', HAND OF KALLIACH deserve to be propelled out of the underground and into mainstream consciousness."
(A Certain Taste)

"… one of the best albums of the year …"
(RockVip)

"… boiling cauldron of Metal music with some touches of pop - not in the bad name I have to say … the use of Gaelic in some passages of the album brings a certain charm … HAND OF KALLIACH manage this pretty well … the contrasts the band create are really appreciated …"
(Metal Addicts)

"… uniquely vibrant and charming in a way that makes me excited about Metal again … certainly one of my favorite releases of the year … highly recommended!"
(Sleeping Village Reviews)

"… perfect seasonal listen … blend Celtic Folk and blackened Death Metal to highly atmospheric effect … an album you can really get lost in, be it in the lyrical magicks or the expansive sound; it’s a properly immersive experience … has incredibly well-developed songs … is a reminder of how much talent is still simmering deep in the underground …"
(This Day In Metal)

"... a real steam hammer on the ears ... very mystical touched ... concentrated aggressiveness ... combines very hard elements with pleasant ones in a successful way ... so you can go on the musical journey through the wild Scottish Highlands without hesitation ..."
(Metalmamas Neuigkeiten)

"… definitely a duality/Beauty meets the Beast vibe present here … give it a listen, it serves well as an enjoyable break from the ‘traditional’ … somewhere between vintage Moonspell, Lacuna Coil …"
(Cultmetalflix)



►► Shade Beyond • EP • 2020◄◄

90 / 100
"… very beautiful … plays with varying degrees of power, aggression and threat … can easily captivate …"
(Musika BE)

9 / 10
"… simply indefatigable … dark, undulating, homogeneous … holds bizarre surprises, whether it's a Black Metal insert, an unexpected drum theme, an instrument unrecognizable to the untrained ear … I really hope that this twenty-three minute EP is just the beginning of what the Scottish duo have in store for the Metal scene."
(Rozsdagyár)

4 / 5
"… infectious … keeping your body in a state of continuous motion, as the pulsating energy reaches the very depth of your soul … invigorating freshness … get 'Shade Beyond' in your ears!"
(Fjordhammer)

8 / 10
"Take equal parts Sojourner, Saor and Windfaerer and that gets you into the general area … grows on you after repeated listens … a solid start and has a promising future ahead of them."
(Folk Metal NL)

8 / 10
"… a sound of their own … production sounds very professional … very great sounding atmospheric and melodic mixture of Folk, Black and Death Metal …"
(A Different Shade Of Black Metal)

8 / 10
"No two songs on this album sound alike; each has its own atmosphere, charisma, melody and can convince me right away ... an energetic work ... exciting ..."
(KOBZR Magazine)

70 / 100
"… the atmosphere and the melody are mixed in a nice way with the most extreme character of the compositions, whether it is manifested in the music or in the vocals … creating a beautiful headphone contrast."
(Greek Rebels)

7 / 10
"... great songs … a good surprise …"
(World Of Metal)

7 / 10
"... wonderful vocals … impressive … pretty strong …"
(Metal Temple)

68 / 100
"... good record … a band worth following."
(Heavy Metal Heaven)

"… HAND OF KALLIACH does a tremendous job at keeping that energy, power, and all the sensations that a rock-solid work of Folk Metal needs in order to succeed where many others might slack to help make 'Shade Beyond' not only an interesting debut but an immensely promising one at that."
(Head-banger Reviews)

"… Gaelic and Celtic overtones that can be normally heard in traditional Scottish Folk Music and blend it with Epic Metal sounds … incredible range of Folk and epic Metal production … distorted guitars and incredible growls performed by the husband, balanced with the orchestral softness in the background and the wife’s almost faerie-like vocals is an enchanting listening experience."
(Miss Mephistopheles)

"… extremely promising throughout its nearly 24 minutes."
(Headbanger ES)

"… brute and independent … you can almost feel the cold, whipping wind on the Scottish coast in your living room! … like Primordial, Cruachan or Waylander … very interesting …"
(Crossfire Metal)

"… one hell of an enjoyable surprise! The gaelic/celtic elements provide a larger-than-life sense of melodic intrigue, and the dual vocal approach allows for a notable level of dynamism and depth … there's a little Death, a little Folk, and even a touch of Hardcore grit … I'll be throwing 'Shade Beyond' on repeat."
(Sleeping Village)

"… like catapulted to the Middle Ages … with bewitching and catchy melodies … varied and very rich musically … a very good discovery … to be followed very closely … I will not be surprised to find them quickly signed on a label for a next album … I recommend this band to the fans of bands like Insomnium, Eluveitie or Leaves' Eyes."
(Metal Alliance)

"Album Of The Week … blending Death Metal with plenty of melody and Celtic folk components to create something exceptional and unlike anything else … give this independently-released debut EP a shot and see for yourself just how eclectic and satisfying our subculture can at times be! Be sure to follow …"
(ViaOmega)

"… if you love the darkest edges of the Metal genre and want something different I strongly urge you to check out this unique band with a unique vision that they will not compromise on."
(#560Reviews)

"An amazing work, personal and convincing, extreme and atmospheric with Folk parts reduced to the essential and, above all, performed by electric guitars with minimal inserts of other instruments … if you want a comparison on the way to compose and insert these parts, the Irish Primordial come to mind. Hand Of Kalliach prove to have a great potential and give us hope for future productions."
(The Murder Inn)

"… 'Shade Beyond' could be the soundtrack for those gloomy and cold days that are typical of Scotland and that we Folk/Viking metal lovers dream of in all seasons … fascinating …"
(Mister Folk)

"... definitely interesting for fans of any kind of Black Metal, but should probably appeal to one or two other listeners from other genres as well."
(Soundmagnet)

"… unique sound and unique atmosphere … creating an atmosphere with many layers and at the same time many effects that we cannot hear every day … atmospheric black … modern metal effects … neo-folk … industrial dark-wave and dramatically theatrical melodies … like a bridge we can walk between the magical melodies of the present and the past."
(Fémforgács)

"… great power and dynamics … a very noteworthy, unconventional debut …"
(Orkus)

"… fresh and authentic … a very passable debut …"
(Sonic Seducer)

"… one of the most interesting debuts this year … the five songs on this EP have a completely different character, and that makes their proposal attractive for young and contemporary audiences, even to the point that it can be played on radios."
(Conexión Rock HN)

Action:	HAND OF KALLIACH
Base:	Edinburgh • Scotland
Genre:	Atmospheric Celtic Metal
Title:	Samhainn
FFO:	Primordial, Oceans Of Slumber, Ihsahn
Format:	Album
Label:	Trepanation Recordings
Release:	Oct. 22, 2021

Bulletpoints:
• 1ˢᵗ full-length release of the innovative & original Scotsmen
• Exciting emotional compositions, eclectic embedded in an stirring style
• Etherial, hypnotic soundscapes of uplifting epic kind









Husband and wife ATMOSPHERIC CELTIC METAL duo HAND OF KALLIACH meld a passion for Metal music with traditional Scottish folk elements. Instead of using traditional instruments they draw inspiration from the rhythms, time signatures and patterns used in folk music and adapt them for distorted guitars:

"We’re both extremely excited to be releasing our debut full-length, 'Samhainn'. Named after the ancient Celtic festival of winter (pronounced ‘Sah-win’), this album represents a huge gear change in our writing and production from our initial work, bringing a darker and more aggressive energy to our hybrid sound of Melodeath and Folk Metal."

The name HAND OF KALLIACH, comes from the legend of the 'Cailleach', a Scottish witch god of winter - and in mythology one tale holds that she sleeps at the bottom of an enormous whirlpool in Corryvreckan, off the western isles of Scotland where John's family is from, arising to usher in winter.

HAND OF KALLIACH's music focuses on dual concepts of benevolence and malevolence, all against the backdrop of the history, mythology and land/seascapes of the Scottish islands.

The duo delivers a powerful sound from the contrast of Sophie’s ethereal vocals to John’s harsh gutturals, and the dynamic surrounding instrumentation. Intense distorted guitar and bass tones ground the music while haunting melodies and motifs break through the wall of sound.

"Samhainn" is an epic release creatively reimagining the folk style with a powerhouse of Melodic Metal. From the haunting opening of "Beneath Starlit Waters", to the darkly serene soundscape of "The Lull Of Loch Uigeadail", before concluding with the dramatic intensity of "Return To Stone", "Samhainn" is a voyage of discovery not to be missed.



BACKFLASH:
Hailing from Edinburgh, Scotland, Husband-and-wife two piece HAND OF KALLIACH arose in December 2020 with the launch of their fascinating debut EP, "Shade Beyond".

As their touching eclectic ATMOSPHERIC CELTIC METAL sound is defined by distilled Scottish, Gaelic and Celtic overtones, blended with a poisonous Melodeath Metal foundation, it was picked up very quickly by stations and playlists as 'January's Band Of The Month' on the Midnight Hour show on Metal Meyhem Radio.

The tracks of "Shade Beyond" range in atmosphere from the charged energy of "In Tempest Wrought" and "White Horizon", to the raw aggression of "Fathoms" and the darker intonations of "Fàilte", and to the more classic Metal punch of "Overwhelm".

The overwhelming mixture of the multi-talented pair is truly as unique as it is hypnotic - just dare to imagine a deeply lovely voice like Sarah Brightman's, as in "White Horizon," where the vocals then soar into gripping epic visions of world escape!


HAND OF KALLIACH • Online:

Email:

•

TRACKS:
01. Beneath Starlit Waters 05:56
02. Solas Neònach 04:53
03. Each Uisge 05:01
04. Roil 03:28
05. Cinders 03:02
06. The Lull Of Loch Uigeadail 03:49
07. Ascendant 03:13
08. Òran Na Tein'-éigin 04:10
09. Trial Of The Beithir-Nimh 03:49
10. Return to Stone 05:21

total: 42:42

•

LINE-UP:
Sophie Fraser • Vocals, Bass
John Fraser • Vocals, Guitars, Drums

•

DISCOGRAPHY:
2020 • Shade Beyond • EP
2021 • Cinders • Single
2021 • Samhainn • Full-length

HAND OF KALLIACH is available for interviews via phone, Skype, Zoom & email