by Johnny Loftus
The Gift of Excalibur bears a lot of weight before its music is played. Arriving as the second volume in Medwyn Goodall and Oreade Music's Arthurian Collection, and bearing the subtitle &Myths & Mysteries of the World,& the album obviously wants very much to explore the shifting, misty border between new age and contemporary Celtic music. It does so with grace on the title track, where a synthesizer adopts the sound of the Uilleann pipes as it plays a stirring Celtic melody. But &Camelot& and &Lancelot du Lac& are closer to contemporary instrumental with their gentle rhythms and simple but effective lead melody, while &One Land One King& and &King Arthur& swirl with an atmosphere similar to soundtrack music. Gift of Excalibur, Vol. 2 could've used a stronger Celtic angle. But the prolific, ever-curious Goodall has still created an album worth hearing for contemporary Celtic and new age fans alike.