Living several miles away from the continent of Europe hasn't stopped our Argentinians from heavily inspiring their music of Celtic folk metal. Based on Pagan beliefs and strongly focused on the great Scottish culture, SKILTRON's music will transform you in a heroic Fidel, ready to serve your homeland. While their style may differ from traditional folk metal, there still is a clear Power metal root and influence, whether it being in the noble harmonies or the majestic instrumentals. Always uplifting your soul to it's highest, SKILTRON here delivers a tasteful balance between symphonic and brutal. As if, instead of following the footsteps of bigger folkloric acts (who mostly variate between power and melodic metal), the band sets a huge 80's influence as rock bottom. Yes, my friends, were talking Thrash metal here. Surprise, surprise the reissue of 2006's ''The Clans Have United'' is in fact a crossover of modern days metal and the good ol' pioneer metal. Plunge in this rudimentary tone, lose yourself in the fine folk arrangements. I swear, it's an entertaining listen.

I most definitely appreciate the creativity and the thought put in this record. You'd think the battler concept would be enough remarkable, but the Argentinians couldn't stop there. ''The Clans Have United'' is a universe, a concoction of different cultures and eras meddling all in one explosive debut album. One could see this as a strange fusion of genres, only to get stung and addicted to the drum pulse, the rapid finger picking, the raw high-pitched voice (worthy of any thrasher front man), the bouncy riffs and the classic guitar harmonies. Add a sprinkle of bagpipes lead embellished with fiddle and tin whistles and there goes the distinguished folkloric influences. Keep in mind the intricate battleground tales of passion and engagement for Scotland's history and the effective rallying cries, those too will inspire you.

There's a recipe of layers here. As if the soil of the record was created with underpinning rhythm instruments (most likely the classic drum/bass mesh) with constant, but splendid use of folk instruments, giving a traditional twist to the final sound. I'll praise SKILTRON for this: every instrument has its time of glory. Sometimes, a whole song can give place to only one folkloric instrument (''By Sword and Shield'' with the bagpipes, for example) in order to let light shine on the guitars. I much rather this than a muddy result of sounds burying each other. Truly, every instrument should express itself accordingly... Or else it's just a bunch of musicians being pretentious and competitive for an incomprehensible result.

Comparing this record to SKILTRON's subsequent material really gives a clear idea of the bands evolution. You'd tend to admit ''The Clans Have United'' has a general harsher sound due to the tempo breakdowns, the breakneck palpitating drums, the distorted power chords and the amusing guitar works alternating between brief shreds and vicious riffing. The subtle Bobby Blitz (OVERKILL) impersonation in Diego Valdez's screeching voice (ex-vocalist 2006-2011) will either seduce or bore you, it only depends on how you like your metal. Overall, with time, the band has obviously lost their edgy and raw feel, venturing more and more in the symphonic and folkloric aspects of their music. The impressive and meticulously played solos (whether it being on the flutes, fiddle, bagpipes or guitars) stimulate the ear despite the band regularly playing in the same scale, making the overall result captivating enough. I couldn't help but also notice the slight Pirate Metal influences, not no strangely resembling Scottish band ALESTORM. Is it exactly because our Argentinians inspire themselves from Scotland's history? Well, here lies the question. Surely though, with the sailing songs and the quest-like stories, you could only feel like a Viking (a drunken one, at last).

Tunes like ''Pagan Pride'', ''Gathering the Clans'' and ''Coming from the West'' all use gorgeous harmonies and radiant tone. The general album enthrals you with it's perfectly balanced density, always switching from jerky to heavenly and using a lot of contrast by placing softer songs between mad ones. Distinguished songs would have to be: ''Rising Soul'', an uplifting track with medieval inspirations, ''Stirling Bridge'', a strong and intensifying must and ''By Sword and Shield'' being the pagan anthem. Let's not leave out the majestic ''Across the Centuries'', a seven minute long instrumental experimenting with violin shreds, powerful chords, slow synthesizer backups, intriguing tempo transitions and, of course, strident but fluid guitars. With a sheer and exalted use of multiple folkloric instruments, this track definitely wins.

Like stated earlier, SKILTRON just released a reissue of ''The Clans Have United'', adding three demo-versions and two instrumentals. The ''Gathering the Clans'' demo only changes in the details (using more tin whistle and less distortion), as ''Sword and Shield'' has a big change of tone: the bagpipes sound more nasal and the guitars way cleaner. When also considering the bagpipes outro is left out, the song loses some originality. ''Sixteen Years After'' uses good bouncy riffs with an epic headbang feel. The demo is as tumbling as the popular version, but has a rougher sound, a furious picking technique and a general hammering spirit I much rather. The instrumental version of ''Sword and Shield'' helps appreciate the beautiful harmonies and creativeness of the track, but sounds maybe a bit repetitive for an instrumental. Like if some sections of the song were meant for vocals. ''Coming from the West'', second instrumental, closes the record with it's grand imagery.

Starting off their career with a barbarous record, SKILTRON really set high standards for their future material to come. A ferocious listen, with various influences (all styles merged : Folk, Celtic, Power, Thrash, Pirate) and diversified themes. Along the danceable and spasmodic rhythms, engaged in their rousing battlefield tales and always accompanied of group chants, ''The Clans Have United'' will not leave you indifferent. The folkloric instruments will move you, the howling will guide you, the hurried rhythm will make you rattle. With this reissue of five interesting demo-versions and magnificent instrumentals, our six bastards and their creative minds have put back on the market a record of tremendous talent and interpretation.