• Hill of Sallows, 2002
• Beyond the Pale, 1999

Beyond The Pale's second release, Hill of Sallows, brings with it some changes from their initial self-titled release in 1999. The most notable changes are the addition of Hannah Stevenson to BTP's lineup, and the reduced emphasis on Stephen Dowdall's guitar work (The first recording had several solo guitar pieces.) Hannah brings her bass and vocal talents to the mix.

Hill is a traditional album, though the intro to the first song ("Toss the Feathers", a traditional tune) has a very ethereal, almost modern feel to it. Straightaway though, it breaks into the familiar reel. Throughout the album, it maintains an overall traditional Celtic sound. At one point, during "Captain O'Kane / Morning Dew" the band throws a curve ball by adding a percussion solo followed by a few bars of Latin-influenced guitar and flute riffs. Though this momentarily feels like it will be the album's one loose end, they eventually tie a nice Celtic knot on the end of the tune, leaving the listener with an almost Galician impression. Again, "The Mist Covered Mountains"--the third segment of "Red Admiral Set"--while remaining traditional, brings an emphasis on bass and a full drum set, and is briefly reminiscent of Wolfstone.

As with most traditional recordings, the band incorporates material from several sources, including covers of two songs from The Crossing, "Carpenter" and "Winter". At the risk of sounding disrespectful to The Crossing, I must say I like these versions far better than the originals.

Though I enjoyed Stephen Dowdall's solo guitar work on Beyond The Pale's first CD, this CD has a more unified cohesive sound due in part to the reduced emphasis on guitar.

My favorite moments on the CD come during two very touching tunes, "Farewell to Aughtore" and "Foggy Dew Reflection". "Aughtore" is a tune penned by a relative of Dowdall in 1879 while crossing the Atlantic to America:

Farewell dear friends and neighbors all
I bid you all adieu
I am crossing the Atlantic now
Three thousand miles from you
I am crossing o'er Atlantic wide
Where thousands crossed before
But I left my heart behind me
In charming sweet Aughtore
...
Now before I lay down my pen
A few more words I'll say
I hope the Lord will be my guide
While in Americay...

"Foggy Dew Reflection" is a narration by Hannah Stevenson from Psalm 140, Lamentations 3, and Isaiah 12, set to the solemn "Foggy Dew", played on guitar and highly reverberated flute:

Rescue me, O Lord from evil men
Protect me from men of violence
Who devise evil plans in their hearts
And stir up war every day
Do not grant the wicked their desires O Lord
Do not let their plans succeed
Streams of tears fall from my eyes without relief

But You--You comfort me
Surely God is my salvation
I will trust and not be afraid
The Lord--the Lord is my strength and my song
He has become my salvation.

He has become my salvation.

As a Christian in post-9/11 America, this track had special meaning for me.

Hill of Sallows is a tighter album than their debut. It demonstrates a maturing as a band despite the addition of new personnel. This recording marks Beyond The Pale as a leader among Celtic Christian musicians, and it will rest on the shelf among my favorite albums (when it isn't spinning, anyway).

--Cory C. Engel, CelticChristianTunes.com

Though Celtic Christian music has been gaining in popularity over the last few years, most artists represent the modern/electronic end of the Celtic spectrum. Southeast Pennsylvania's Beyond The Pale, on the other hand, delivers a fantastic set of traditional acoustic Celtic music in their self-titled release.

Most songs on this 45-minute CD are original pieces, with a few familiar traditional tunes thrown in. There is a nice variety of music here; instruments played include bodhran and other percussion, guitar, whistle, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, and bass. Overall, the fiddle is fairly precise tonally, the guitar has a nice bright timbre, and the music is nicely punctuated by skilled percussion, especially in the faster pieces such as "Kesh Jig / Road to Lindoosvarna / Calliope House".

I was especially impressed with Stephen Dowdall's guitar work on this recording. Three of it's 13 songs are solo guitar pieces that are enchanting to listen to (the third, "Farewell", also features Julie Hamer's whistle). I'm not aware of any solo aspirations Dowdall might have, but I'd love to hear a full-length CD of his work. (My only complaint is that these solo pieces are very short; combined, they total only about 5 minutes.)

Lyrically, this recording is uncompromising and inspiring. "Rise Up" is a call to service:

Rise up me boys and walk with me
Rise up me boys and walk with me
The Son of Man has need of thee
You shall know the truth
That sets men free

I will make you fishers of men
And great your reward shall be
You will find peace and love in your hearts if
You will follow me

"Conversation with a Skeptic" addresses the unbeliever:

You say it doesn't much matter
The truth that you adhere
When I ask for an explanation
Tell me what you revere

And I know why He died
And I know, sometimes I cry
And I know that He's alive

Beyond The Pale is a very enjoyable CD, and is a strong offering from a band that clearly has a lot of potential. I look forward to the release of their next album.