The Scandinavians, and more particularly their Finnish neighbours, may have made a more than decent fist, in recent years, at bringing pagan and folk metal to the fore, but nobody does it quite so well as the Celts, with bands such as Primordial and Cruachan proving more than a match for any marauding band of Vikings or Varanginians in the tales of bloodlust and derring-do department...

The latest bunch of Celtic rockers to venture forth beyond the pale of Dublin's fair city (forgive the extremely obscure historical references, but we do like to show off our knowledge in such matters occasionally...) are Celtachor, tonight returning to Belfast for a long-awaited second reading from their particular book of tales of old Erin.

Uber Rock get ourselves in the mood by a quick visit to another bar across town, for a healthy early dose of the excellent Buckfast-fuelled pornstarrawk of Cross Eyed Mary and the whiskey-soaked rabble-rousing of Rebels By Nature, both of whom put us into one of those warm all over moods before, one detour via the local Chinese takeaway for a curry chip and a pitstop at the supermarket for a few three-for-£1-Mars bars (just to keep the energy levels, up you understand) later, it's on to the main business of the evening...

Druid metallers Summoner really set the mood, taking to the stage in full wizards' regalia, complete with a lead singer in Gandalf-style beard and white wig: met in equal parts with quizzical disbelief and almost disciple-like adoration, the quartet take full advantage of not playing to "a room full of invisible people" and rip through an impressive and highly destructive but tongue-in-cheek death metal set.

NimhStil's gloomy, blackened groove metal, on the other hand, is lacklustre and soul-less, compounded by the trio's complete lack of stage presence; it is appreciated, however, by a small section of the crowd, and their set does improve slightly as it progresses - although it does take their frontman until the dying chords of their set to even acknowledge that the audience exists.

Brigantia have travelled up from County Tipperary, smack in the centre of the island of Ireland, and the assembled mass is really in the mood for their Sabbath/Cathedral/Candlemass infused heavy doom, which they put across with aplomb and no little humour.

Headliners Celtachor are only really missing the facepaint and broadswords as they take the stage to a rapturous reception from a literally howling mad crowd.  Frontman Stíofán di Roiste hardly needs to cajol the fans into action, as he beats his chest and prowls the front of the stage with the confidence of a chieftain leading his tribe to victory.  Behind him, lead guitarist Fionn Stafford whirls like a dervish, his riffs and solos cutting the air with the ferocity of a banshee's wail, while the rest of the band underpin the aural assault with a constant barrage of brutality. The music - drawn both from their excellent extant 2010 demo and their forthcoming debut album - plays homage to the band's roots with copious use of Irish folk melodies, as well as the whistle and bodhran, as the five piece traverse the epic sweep of both history and landscape, with their retelling of the legends of the sons of Tuireann, Lugh, Balor, the Fomor and the Blood Fine, bringing the ancient mythologies back to life with vigour and in ear-shattering volume - and storming past the venue's curfew with the disregard of Cuchulainn in full pursuit of his foes.

Yep, the Finns may have the higher ground, and the cooler facepaint, but the Irish have the better stories and the heavier riffs...