Celtic-Medieval Speed Folk... courtesy of PerKelt

PerKelt - Live at The Artrix, Bromsgrove, Saturday 11 March

It was somewhat startling to see the members of PerKelt, conspicuous in their flowing medieval cloaks and kilts, among the gathering audience sipping cappuccinos in the foyer of the Artrix Arts Centre. But any sense of alarm was quelled by the sight of them carefully applying face paint to one another's foreheads, before heading backstage in readiness to play. 

PerKelt describe their sound as Celtic-Medieval Speed Folk. This belies the lyricism of moments like 'The Willow Song', (a setting of Shakespeare's ballad from Othello) and John Dowland's ‘If My Complaints’. All three members of PerKelt – founding members Stepan Honc (guitar and vocals) and fellow Czech Paya Bastlova (vocals, recorders and harp) – are astonishingly good musicians. The most recent recruit, French drummer/percussionist David Maurette, adds to the vibrancy, warmth and good humour.

Paya is able to alternate between sweet lamentation and a harder-edged singing voice and switched from singing to recorder without missing a beat or a breath. What's more, the challenging choice of material called for multilingual skills with ‘Ay Vist Lo Lop’ sung in the Occitan language of southern France and ‘Herr Mannelig’ in Swedish. Stepan was sensitive to the intimacy of the venue and chose to restrain his urge to rock out on speed folk, changing the set list to include a few more downbeat selections. There is, though, an irrepressible, almost grunge sensibility to PerKelt which means for every soft, delicate moment it won't be long before the guitar, drums and recorder joyfully let rip again.