Mael Mórdha ( , ) are an Irish

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band from

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Its name can also be written in traditional Irish typography, as Mael Mórḋa. The band's music melds doom metal with

Irish folk music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a Music genre, genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Irela ...

to create what has been referred to as "Gaelic doom metal".

History

Mael Mórdha was formed in January 1998 by Roibéard Ó Bogail (formerly the vocalist of the band Dreamsfear). On the strength of the band’s last two EPs, '' Caoineadh na nGael'' and '' Cluain Tarbh'', the band was signed to Dutch label Karmageddon Media which released the band’s first album, '' Cluain Tarbh'' on 12 September 2005. An alternative recording of the album title track was released on a limited edition 7 inch vinyl split with their fellow Irishmen Primordial, through Sentinel Records in the winter of 2005. Due to severe internal problems within Karmageddon and a lack of availability of the album, the band left the label and signed to Grau Records in Germany in February 2006. '' Gealtacht Mael Mórdha'' is the band's first album to be released through Grau Records, on 19 March 2007. In 2008, their debut album was re-released by Grau Records with two additional tracks previously recorded on the band's first EP, ''The Path to Insanity''. The band has played the Abbeyleix Metalfest (Ireland - 1999), Day Of Darkness (Ireland - 2003, 2004, 2007),

Bloodstock Open Air Bloodstock Open Air is a British heavy metal festival held annually at Catton Hall in Walton-on-Trent, Derbyshire, since 2005. Originally held indoors for one day with two stages, the festival started in 2001 at the Derby Assembly Rooms and ...

(England - 2006, 2013), Heathen Crusade II (

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, United States- 2007), Doom Shall Rise, (Göppingen, Germany - 2007) and Dutch Doom Days (Rotterdam, The Netherlands - 2007). The band entered the Irish leg of the

Eurovision Song Contest 2005 The Eurovision Song Contest 2005 was the 50th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, following the country's victory at the with the song "Wild Dances" by Ruslana. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union ( ...

in late 2004, with the aim of entering the finals held in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

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in 2005. Mael Mórdha's third album, entitled ''Manannán'', was released on 14 May 2010, by Grau Records. Between November 2011 and January 2012 Mael Mórdha recorded their fourth album at Foel Studio in Wales, with producer Chris Fielding. Entitled Damned When Dead, the album was released by

Candlelight Records Candlelight Records is a British record label based in London, founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bass guitarist Lee Barrett in 1993. The record label originally specialized in black metal, but quickly expanded to various other forms of hea ...

in September 2013. In January 2014, Roibéard Ó Bogail left the band. He was replaced by Celtachor vocalist/whistle player Stíofán De Roiste in October of that year. The band went on hiatus in November 2015, returning for one concert in 2018. In 2016 Murphy, Cahill, and Clince formed Death The Leveller alongside former Cursed Earth vocalist, Denis Dowling.

Members

Current

* Stíofán De Roiste - Vocals, Whistle * Gerry Clince - guitars * Dave Murphy - bass * Shane Cahill - drums

Former

* Roibéard Ó Bogail - vocals * Anthony Lindsay - guitars

Discography

Albums

EPs/Splits

Notes

External links

Mael Mórdha
at

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Mael Mórdha's
on

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Mael Mórdha
at Grau Records {{DEFAULTSORT:Mael Mordha Celtic metal musical groups Irish doom metal musical groups Irish folk metal musical groups Irish musical quintets Musical groups established in 1998