In contrast to the lush production that graces so many medieval-type albums this actually sounds quite raw in places, particularly the accoustic guitar solos which suffer from an annoying amount of string scrape (although there is some impressive musicianship on show) while Norax's vocals are too melodramatic by half at times, so much so that it sounds as if he's putting it on. Such a fate befalls a number of tracks, among them 'A Night Of Tears Over The Snow' while on '...Of Magic Dances And Fairies Rings' (even the titles are overdoing it here!) it's as if he's trying so hard his words become virtually unintelligable. Guest vocalist Marina puts in a far better performance on 'Orphaned Forest Lullaby', where the guitar is embellished by the sounds of the forest which do at least make for a half-decent melancolic feel while the chanted voices that pop up from time to time, most notably on 'Aranmanoth' do add a touch of drama. The recitation of a Byron poem (in Spanish, presumably) on 'Nature And The Poet' fits in well enough with the emotive music although it would have been better without the singing while the closing 'Romeca-Calelha', which initially sets a bright, nicely optimistic mood is similarly let-down by the whispered voice that does nothing to match the mood of the music; in fact the only track where it really comes together is the livelier 'Water Of Moon' which boasts far better vocals (a style they would have been well advised to maintain throughout) and a more effective medieval feel. It may be that, not being an expert on this kind of music, I've missed the point somewhere but I really can't help feeling even the most rabid 'Mittelalter' lover is going to have a hard time getting to grips with this. I've certainly heard far better examples of the type so this can really only get a thumbs down, I'm afraid, sorry.