Review: “Metamorphosis” by Stonecircle

Artist: Stonecircle
Album: Metamorphosis
Year: 2009

Quality is present in soulful musicality, even when the lyrics aren’t there. Imagine the soundtrack of a woman’s soul pursed in the chords of her hair, winds blowing the silks of her skirts across a field of heather in bloom, and you’ve only begun to discover the secrets to Metamorphosis. When left to the exploration of the treasures of this compact disc, the listener is met with the Traditional “Maid on the Shore” beautifully animated through the vocals of Mary Johnston-Coursey. Her signature lilt resonates as an a capella intro to “Factory Girl”, where there is eventual communion of instruments with such exquisite deliberateness. Guitar accompaniment eventually leads to flute, and later, violin, ever enriching the melody.

George Schoemaker, founder, band lead, 6 and 12 string guitarist, lends his vocals to a fable about the Mexican-American War in “Santy Anna”. “Moped in the Sky” plays as the theme of some great legend, unspoken through the lore of the ages, where violin and guitar lead an ensembled chorus of melodic reflection tempered through uplifting paces. An inspiring flute solo is just one of the many outstanding elements of the ending “Lamentations” which include “Gaeta’s Lament”, a tribute to the Battlestar Galactica series.

Listen for excellence in musicianship, including the fiddle of Bronwen Beecher, Irish flute, bodhran, low and hi whistles of Tiffany Draper, flute and percussion of Nina Cooley. Celtic fusion is truly art in sound on this sixth offering from Stonecircle.

Dionne Charlet is a freelance writer based in Greater New Orleans. She is a contributing writer for Where Y’at Magazine and reviews music for Marc Gunn’s Celtic MP3s Music Magazine. Dionne runs the Cast Aways Open Theatre Troupe and performs with her fellow Cast Aways volunteers at Ren faires, sci-fi cons, charity venues and festivals throughout the Gulf Coast and beyond. Mrs. Charlet also works as an Outreach Coordinator for the Humane Society of Louisiana. You can contact Dionne at SHIATARA@AOL.com.

This entry was posted on March 12, 2010 at 5:47 pm and is filed under CD Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.