nothing of remote interest to anyone beside myself, I bet

So, wanna know what's my next favorite thing in the whole world, next to slash fics & Viggo movies?... Random, unexpected music discoveries. Every once in a while I get this urge to go on www.mp3sugar.com and just browse the alphabetical list of groups/artists, clicking on any names that sound intriguing. Funnily enough, these happen to be mostly either folk or metal bands of late. Seems like two opposite ends of the spectrum, no? Well... think again. I just stumbled upon a band that has the following two labels affixed to it: "Irish folk" and "pagan metal". It's called Cruachan. And it absolutely ROCKS. Just imagine all the raw, penetrating soulfulness of traditional Celtic music, but with a major kick added to it. It just sounds so fresh, so alive. Okay, maybe some of the arrangements are a bit too noisy & chaotic, and some of the vocals aren't too impressive - but the very idea of combining these supposedly incompatible music styles proves quite explosive. It's the lively, but richly melodic instrumental pieces that get me the most. There are obviously many different influences to be detected here, and on some tracks they even clash a bit - but there are many little tresures to be fished out of this eclectic pond. At least on the earlier albums... because now my exploration has apparently reached the ubiquitous, overplayed folky-pop phase. *sigh* Oh well... no band is perfect, I guess (unless they're called Lacrimosa :P). And it's time to go to bed, anyway.