Barefoot and acoustic, Pyrolysis play stormingly fast-paced and energetic songs perfect for any tavern brawl, but also some darker ballads that speaks of rainy days.
Pre-Covid we had one hell of a gig lined up for you lucky Londoners starring two of the best Dutch Celtic-Punk bands the Netherlands has to offer. Heading 
off to play a festival somewhere down in Devon the bands were lured to north London (by promise of fame and fortune!) and Pyrolysis and The Royal Spuds were all set to blow the roof off the infamous Dublin Castle in Camden. Sadly, like a lot of other planned London Celtic Punks events, the gig bit the dust and all our hard work in the end went for nothing. So moving on two + years later and its great news to hear new music coming out from both bands recently with The Royal Spuds new album Roots Of Life reviewed on these pages just last month.
Formed in 2012 in Zaltbommel (also known as Bommel) in the Netherlands as Pyrolysis and the first thing to get out the way is their weirdly interesting name.
- the application of heat to chemical compounds in order to cause decomposition
- chemical decomposition of compounds caused by high temperatures
The band are famous for playing barefooted but don’t be fooled into thinking these folks are just a bunch of laid back hippies playing acoustic music as they have always showed they could rustle up both wings of Celtic-Punk with some super catchy Celtic-Folk and, like on their debut album’s final track, ‘Lets Do It Now’ that showed they can turn their hand to trad Punk as well as trad Folk music. In 2020, the band used the lack of festivals and gigs to record and release the Alotslse EP as well as two singles, ‘Leave Me’ and ‘Rest van de Dag Vrij’ which are both included here.
‘The Whaler’s Lantern’ begins with the title song and was the EP’s first single released accompanied by a stunning animated video by Black Galley Media, who also just happens to be Tim the bands Irish Bouzouki player (You can find his visual work at https://blackgalleymedia.nl/). The video follows the main character, the whaler, as he’s judged for his greed and blood thirst by storms and whales alike. This is the fourth song written about the ‘lantern man’, who they have named Neil, who has appeared on a bunch of their album covers. Intelligent and infectious, fast paced Celtic-Folk of the sort that would have even the most miserable of folk up on the dance floor or at the very least tapping their legs in tune.
“The waters show the harvester the nature of his crimesA hunter on the run, my terrain has called my timeFinal tears come pouring, there’s no way I’ll win the fightThis poor old whaler’s lantern truly is the final light”
The accordion leads and they manage to get a sound that you’d find was only four members. Great production without over doing it. Next up is ‘Path Of The Flame’ which has a ‘eastern’ feel to it. Due in no small part I think to the prominence of the accordion again. The fiddle gives it a Celtic edge but it especially reminds me of the English Folk-Rock bands of the 70’s. Previous releases (according to memory as I lost all their back catalogue when my old computer went kaput! a few years ago) combined a mixture of classic Folk covers, traditional reels and original compositions but here all the music and lyrics are by Pyrolysis. Next up is the EP’s only instrumental the catchy as hell ‘Rest Van De Dag Vrig’ and gives the band the chance to really excel themselves. I really enjoyed it.
During the last CeltCast fantasy awards Pyrolysis had the honour of playing live on stage ‘Peace Bells’ that they wrote during the lock down about keeping hope that one day life will blossom again. A slow song, not quite a ballad and sung by the talented Rikke whose beautiful voice really gives the song meaning. The curtain comes down with the final song ‘Leave Me’ and a great song to end things.
“You have given me shadowsIt’s all I’ve ever knownNow I light my torch and guide myselfTo a place that I call home”
The EP was recorded at Dearworld Studio and mixed by Fieke van den Hurk and mastered by Sander van der Heide. The sound as mentioned is perfect and you will find it hard to believe that it’s only Tim, Stan, Rikke, Laurens and Joshua. The beautiful artwork was done by the bands fiddler Rikke Linssen. If you are in the London area then Pyrolysis finally make their debut on a London stage on Friday 15th July at The Troubadour on Old Brompton Road, London SW5 9JAL with renowned London Pagan-Celtic band PerKelt. A great night is in store and we look forward to seeing you there but don’t be dropping any safety pins about the place!!
(Download or stream The Whaler’s Lantern via the Bandcamp player below)
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find it hard to dispute that the potato is king! Odd name or not The Royal Spuds have slowly been becoming one of the best bands on the continent with a steady stream of releases over the last few years including over the Covid lock downs. We came close to seeing them live on stage over here at the famous Dublin Castle in Camden but again Covid put paid to that (though we haven’t given up all hope of it being re-arranged someday) and their tour with fellow Dutch band Pyrolysis was unfortunately cancelled.
So cheers for taking part in our poll and congratulations to The Go-Set. A wonderful band and proof that they mean an awful lot to a lot of people. You may not know it but they played a massive part in the existence of London Celtic Punks too so we owe them our thanks as well. Hopefully 2021 will bring all these bands the recognition they deserve and things will settle down to normal soon. You can check out the official London Celtic Punks Best Of 2020 list 
BATALLON DE SAN PATRICIO- 
Just a couple of weeks ago we reviewed the 30th anniversary album of German band Fiddlers Green and around the same time was released another album by a Celtic-Punk giant on the other side of the planet celebrating thirty years in the game this time from The Mahones. Yes 30 years. THIRTY. Hard to believe isn’t it? Popular throughout the world they have recorded eleven studio albums, two live albums, an acoustic album and a compilation marking their 25 year anniversary and have covered more miles than British Airways! Here they have carefully chosen nineteen tracks of their best from across the 30 years of their career. The album is available as a ten track vinyl release (on green!) and also on CD and download with nine bonus tracks from 
From traditional Christmas folk music now to Heavy Metal! Founded in 2004 in Perth, Scotland by Christopher Bowes Alestorm are one of the pioneers and certainly the leading light of Pirate Metal! Basically the combination of Heavy Rock/Metal and Pirate music. Now Pirate music is often confused with Celtic music and for good reason too. The similarities are obvious to anyone with a pair of ears with plenty of the same melodies (and even some of the same songs) criss-crossing the genres. Alestorm have been together for fourteen years and they may have toned down the Metal side of their music a little but their popularity seems set to continue with this their sixth album. Now I don’t claim to know much about this genre but it does seem to be growing and their have been a few high profile gigs in London over the last couple of the years with Alestorm headlining some of the towns biggest venues. Released in May on Napalm Records and recorded in Thailand this is as good a place as any to start if this genre interests you. Songs like ‘Treasure Chest Party Quest’, ‘Fannybaws’ and ‘Pirate’s Scorn’ give you an idea but it is the epic eight minute ‘Wooden Leg Pt. 2 (The Woodening)’ that really stood out for me showing there’s more to Alstorm than gimmick.
Drawing in inspiration from sea-shanties, traditional music, Celtic-Rock and Celtic-Punk, Irish-Punk and Folk-Metal, Barbar’O’Rhum inhabit an area that sits somewhere between Alestorm and The Mahones. Founded in 2014 in the South-West Of France the band offer up their own style of music they call ‘Rock ‘n’ Rhum’. The musical style here owes much to theatrics making them more a band you would want to witness live but they have captured the sound of the band here rather well and also the atmosphere too which I would think is a lot harder. From beginning to end it’s an accessibly joyful Punk Rock stomp from album opener ‘Pirate des Champs’ which brings in some offbeat but delightful influences to eight minute epic ‘Freres de Bitte’ which brings down the curtain on the album and manages to capture all the various parts of Barbar’O’Rhum in one bombastic theatrical campy triumph. Yet in a album that lasts over an hour and the majority of the songs are around the five minute mark it’s that opening track that stand outs head and shoulders and one listen to that will tell you all you need to know about whether you would like this album or not. Me I fecking loved it!
This year has been a tough one on all of us but has hit the music industry particularly hard. Most bands have had their album releases shelved, tours cancelled, and plans for world domination put on hold. It must be an extremely difficult time keeping the band members motivated when there is little chance of live performances or releasing new music. It isn’t easy for bands in the Celtic / Folk Punk genre to release a new album in normal times so to do so in the current climate is an exceptional achievement. Well our friends from the Netherlands, McScallywag have defied all the restrictions, lockdowns and other obstacles to deliver their new album Songs For The Wicked. What a brilliant achievement and what an excellent album!!
1. 
years so it just makes it all the more clear how much we all miss Waldo and his fantastic 
We continue in our vain attempt to catch up with the Celtic-Punk and related releases we missed throughout the year! Each year the number of releases we receive here at 30492- LONDON CELTIC PUNKS continues to amaze us. Now this is great news but 
The perfect place for Brophy’s Law seeing as despite being based in Copenhagen they actually contain members from Cornwall, England, Scotland and Denmark. They came to prominence last year as they embarked on a UK wide tour with Swedish Celtic-Punk heavyweights Sir Reg as The Neil Brophy Band. A year later and a new name to reflect the full band sound and a new album of thirteen self penned songs spanning the Folk-Punk genre. The album touches on themes as diverse as world travel, revelry, small-town England, record collecting, refugees, propaganda, vikings, lucky people, fishing and homecoming. Their single from the album, Nice To Know, released on Record Store Day received plenty of favourable press and airplay most notably from Steve Lamacq on the UK’s favourite alternative music station BBC6. The song reflects on Neil’s return to his home town of Northampton after a few years away. Life in the city may seem to change fast to us but the reality is at local community level some things never change. As Neil sings: “my country, my heritage will remain!”
Die Dödelsäcke are a German band from Mülheim and are not a band I have been previously aware of. This is a shame as this EP of seven songs is their swansong and the band officially split up in September after playing a gig in Oberhausen. Not only that but they have chosen to split up on what would have been their 30th anniversary together making them one of the oldest Punk bands in Germany. Even stranger is that they have a massive discography going right back to 2002’s Durst 609 and a reputation as being ‘The Kings Of German Bagpipe Punk’. An affinity with Scotland is evident on this album despite all the songs being sung in German. The band has eight members combining your traditional punk rock instruments alongside bagpipes, mandolin, banjo, flute and tin whistle. Vocalist Andel McGoy has the perfect voice for Celtic-Punk being just the right side of hoarse! The first single from the EP was ‘Letzte Fahrt’ which wraps up proceedings on the EP and is a great example of the German style of Celtic-Punk.
Taking their name from a 1980 release by rockers Motorhead Hellraisers And Beerdrinkers are a band that also hail from Germany and the small town of Schwäbisch Gemünd. This is their second album after 2016’s Folk’s Gaudi. They play a style of Celtic-Punk that is more Folk related but with a Punk Rock attitude. Most of the songs are sung in English bar a couple in their native German but with a name like Hellraisers And Beerdrinkers you can kinda guess that this band is in it for the kicks and throughout it’s dance able Irish influenced folk music but with loads of other influences thrown into the mix like the excellent reggae and metal enthused ‘Gaudium Fürs Folk’. They lay claim to be the original purveyors of ‘Gaudi Folk’. Now I’m not sure what this is and whether it relates to the geezer who designed all the wacky buildings in Barcelona is anyone’s guess. With mandolin, banjo and accordion as well as double bass the boys have quite an original sound with the songs ranging throughout the Folk-Punk genre starting with another album high point the opening track ‘Honkytonk’ which brings in elements of Country and Americana. ‘1000’ is another great track with the words sung in immaculate English and its positive message dedicated to rebels everywhere. Slow starting but building up throughout.
The fourth release from Pyrolysis (all are available on Bandcamp) and happy to say they are still pumping out fast-paced and energetic acoustic folk alongside the odd dark and intense ballad and all the time still not wearing any shoes! Completely acoustic (well except for the bass!) and with a bodhrán (Irish hand held instrument) instead of drums they manage to kick up quite a din and the music would definitely be classed as Celtic-Punk if there was an electric guitar in there. Their music ranges across the Folk genre with Punk, Gypsy and even Pirate music getting a nod but it’s their energy that gives them that Celtic-Punk feel. Founded in 2010 in the small Dutch town of Zaltbommel Celtic-Folkies Pyrolysis have been a regular fixture in their home countries festival scene over the years but have also made it over to these shores too. Daylight Is Fading is twelve songs, mostly originals but with a few traditional Folk covers, that comes in just shy of fifty minutes. The opening track is a short instrumental setting the scene for the storming ”The Pace’ which may sound like an electric guitar but you are wrong. The song is as Punk as you can get without electric and the Celtic tinged number rattles along at a grand old pace while main songwriter and lead vocalist Tim has that rather typical Dutch accent where he sounds completely English! In common with a lot of Folk (and Celtic-Punk too) his voice is just another instrument here and used to great effect. They can also turn their hand to a mean traditional song like the instrumental ‘Cooley’s Reel’ or a real foot stomper like the auld Scots classic ‘Donald McGillavry’ as well which leads nicely up to ‘Never Fade’ an album highlight and we are fortunate that they have just released a pretty damn good video to accompany it.
Here’s a first for London Celtic Punks. We thought we had covered just about every country in Europe and then this little beauty arrived on our doorstep all the way from the wee country of Luxembourg. Famous in my youth for always finishing bottom of their European Championship group I knew very little more about them. Joined these days by even smaller countries they have at least risen to second bottom these days! With a population of just over 600,000 with only just over half the population being Luxembourgers with the other 44.5% made up of mainly Portuguese, French and Germans. So it’s a small country but perfectly placed between Belgium, Germany and France. Perfect indeed for a Folk-Punk band looking for gigs! Schëppe Siwen were founded in December 2009 and released their debut self titled album three years later and the follow up 
1. THE LAGAN- Let’s Do It Again
1. MARYS LANE- Wild Unknown 
The song comes to an abrupt end and we are straight into ‘I’m Too Old For This’ and some fast paced melodic Celtic-Punk. The bends in Europe certainly love their flute and though I was late to realise that I actually liked it in Celtic-Punk I am most definitely a convert to it now and Mickey’s playing is superb. Chuck in a guitar solo as well as accordion, banjo and mandolin and we off to an absolute flyer. Needless to say Maarten’s vocals are as clear as the proverbial bell and his English as good (indeed better!) as any English speaking band you’ll find. Next up is the EP’s first cover song. The band have chosen well with ‘Johnny Jump Up’, a lively energetic trad Irish folk song that may surprise some in that it only dates from the 70’s. The song tells of an Cork man who gets in a whole load of trouble thanks to drinking too much extra-extra-strong cider. It’s a popular song on the circuit and deservedly so and The Royal Spuds do it justice.
Hi everyone, I thought I’d drop a little something extra this year for December in addition to the Christmas Special, it’s my top 10 albums of 2018 as judged by me and my old kelpie Banji. Some fantastic music came out this year and I swapped a lot of these artists albums positions around many a time before settling on the final rankings. Rankings are always suggestive so if you disagree with my list then feel free to let me know yours. Here’s the rankings/playlist:
1. FLATFOOT 56 (Chicago)- ‘Odd Boat’ 
1. BLACK ANEMONE (Sweden)- ‘In It For Life’ 
Again Waldo over at Celtic Folk Punk And More walks away with this award. There is simply no better site on the internet. Everything you would possibly need to know is here with a HUGE range of bands covered and there is no doubt in my mind that the site you are reading here now would not exist without the inspiration of Celtic Folk Punk And More. Sadly Waldo published a post on January 3rd titled ‘New Year, New Life’ (
