Cruachan provides the CELTIC CRUNCH

I have been tinkering with an Irish music playlist -- named LÁ 'LE PÁDRAIG in honor of St. Patrick's Day -- for a week or so now.
I am up to 87 songs (and 5.6 hours) with more variety than I could have imagined when I set out to make an Irish playlist.
The mix of music from Éire and Ulster encompasses everything from punk (STIFF LITTLE FINGERS) to pop (WESTLIFE), traditional (THE CHIEFTAINS) to new wave (IN TUA NUA). It includes the classics (VAN MORRISON) and the latest sounds (BELL X1).
It gets as soft as SINÉAD LOHAN and as hard as the band I have been enjoying this morning -- the CELTIC METAL stylists CRUACHAN.
Keith Fay was playing Tolkien-inspired black metal (aren't they all?) when he began incorporating elements of traditional Irish folk music into the sound.
By 1999, Shane McGowan of the Pogues was producing the album "Folk-Lore" and the single "Ride On" even entered the Irish charts.
In addition to providing some necessary "crunch" to my Irish playlist, Cruachan serve as yet another example of the impressive breadth of Irish music styles.