AMG Review of Seven

Rick Anderson
All Music Guide

As rock & reel bands go, this Scots band is considerably more rock than reel. Wolfstone's approach is sort of an inversion of that taken by groups like the Oyster Band and the Pogues, whose music is based on traditional material infused with a rockish intensity. In Wolfstone's music there's plenty of Highland pipes and fiddle, but the predominant voices in the mix are overdriven electric guitars and drums; the overall impression is one of rock & roll infused with Celtic influences rather than the other way around. And if the singing sometimes comes off as a bit fey, it's fey in a heavy metal sort of way, high-pitched and modestly operatic. On "Brave Boys," which seems to be an antiwar tune, singer Stuart Eaglesham delivers a lovely melody over a churning Hammond organ and driving acoustic guitars, while a fiddle keens away in the distance; "Fingal's Cave" is an extract of poetry by Iain Chrichton Smith set to a traditional tune. Elsewhere there are several fine instrumentals, most of them originals. Fans of the band will not be disappointed.