CELTIC HILLS, a band whose name comes from the transferring into English of the "Collio Friulana" territory. Formerly owned by the Celtic people. The Romans called these "Cisalpine Gauls". The term still means the root of the Phenome "Kar" which we see present in such words as "Carinthia, Carnia, and Carso". The Greeks labelled these Celtic Karkeltoi, "kar" meant stone. Released on April 24, 2020, CELTIC HILLS released "Blood Over Intents". Their newest album to date has been well received with their fans. Claiming such influences as AMON AMARTH, DARK TRANQUILITY, and ANTHRAX; CELTIC HILLS mixes 'old school' power metal with melodic, death, and folk metal. Founded in 2010, the mastermind behind the band is guitarist and vocalist, Jonathan Vanderbilt. His vocals definitely have an 'old school' vibe, reminding me a little of RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE's vocalist. If that isn't tribute to the 90's, I don't know what is! A great decade, who knew the 90's would be so beloved when we were living that decade. However, it was oftentimes seen as the last decade of great music.

"Forum Julii" - Tribal sounding drum beats, and dark vocals intertwine. Led by artfully plucked guitar notes. This song has a definite ANTHRAX vibe. Old school metal at its finest. Hard and fast, and at about the 3:40 mark is an amazing guitar solo. "Blood Flows Down" - With a melodic and soft beginning, this song has a powerful intro. Powerful "tremolo plucking" or "fast plucking" makes for a fast beat. The vocals have their own type of sound. And remind me very much of older bands, such as SYSTEM OF A DOWN's, Serg Tankian; or RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE'S, Zack de la Rocha. "Happy Abdicant King" - "I'm feeling like I'm passing by" the lyrics sing. With a mix of cleani-ish vocals, Jonathan sings again in that 'old school' style. The guitar plucking has a folk style to it. Going with their folk, Celtic roots.

"Time" - With a name like that, it brings to mind all kinds of things. For one, time is a construct of the human mind to measure the passing of the earth around the moon. The wisest among us say time does not truly exist. The folk style of this song abounds, a lot in the vocal style. As well as the musical undertones. "When the Snow Covers the Ground" - Holy techno intro I liked the opening to this song. Synthesized keyboards open to folk sounding vocals. The techno vibes stay throughout the duration of the song, and definitely add to the complexity of the sound. "Beer for All" - Ok now, this may be my favorite song title yet. Yes please, on the beer. After all, what could be more "metal" than beer and metal? This song has a luscious guitar solo at about the 1:40 mark, an awesome melodic wave of sound that carries on for a good minute or so. I really dug that bit of this song right there.

CELTIC HILLS is definitely a band with Celtic folk and old metal vibes. They seem to be building a really good fan base and evolving into a well-known band in the metal world. They don't sound like your usual metal sound perse. The vocals are definitely not your regular "screamo" and have some mixed in clean vocals. But there's a certain quality to the vocals that I touched upon before. Reminds me of the aforementioned band lead singers. In a world where everyone has musical influences, it's hard to nail down your own sound and make it work and flow well. CELTIC HILLS did a good job of this.