I am very glad to have discovered Irish (or is it Northern Ireland and thus UK?) band Darkest Era years ago with their debut The Journey Through Damnation EP. A pair of two full-length which followed has been nothing but a testament for me pointing very correctly to Darkest Era having tremendous potential.

The fire apparently still burns very brightly and in between albums Darkest Era decided to revisit some of the earliest phases of their formation and release a single Gods and Origins headlined by what I guess is a previously unavailable track, the one composed before the band even had their moniker picked. An Dagda, previously known as An Dagda Awakens, is something that Darkest Era guitarists created long time ago, but the song now receives a more modern production facelift.

What was always a part of the charm with Darkest Era – they manage to seamlessly combine obvious Celtic folk origin, heavy metal and a few extreme elements. With them you almost never know exactly which turn the song will take, yet you do know where the band is coming from. The melodic opening of An Dagda is unmistakably Celtic, Primordial influenced, but unlike their Irish much more esteemed cousins on An Dagda Darkest Era do not take things into tragic anxious direction. Instead, the song is quite a bit more straightforward Maiden-like gallop, full of heroic imagery and clean singing. The dual guitars and shining solo could place this composition on almost any power/heavy metal album, yet Celtic outline keeps resurfacing, reminding us who the author behind this was. The title track is a simple and efficient Darkest Era, perhaps a little streamlined and naïve, not necessarily showing the full glimpses of what is to come.

Elohim is a new track, and on the B-side of the single Darkest Era goes pretty much all acoustic, shifting the tempo and adding characteristic percussion mid-way. Much softer than An Dagda, Elohim still walks the fine line protecting Darkest Era from slipping into cartoonish Riverdancy folk music.