Geasa (band)

Geasa is a Celtic metal band originating from Dublin, Ireland. Formed by Fergal Purcell and John Kavanagh in 1993 the band combines traditional Celtic music with black metal to form Celtic black metal. They have released one demo album, one EP, and three full-length albums. They came onto the scene in 1994 with the much acclaimed 'Starside' demo. The demo was widely traded in the underground and attributed to the band's later record deal. The demo itself comprises two distinct sounds; from the epic black metal sounding 'Empyrean' and 'Warrior' penned by Purcell to the more Celtic sounding 'Starside' and 'Rite of passage' written mainly by Kavanagh. Indeed it was this black metal sound lost when Purcell quit the band in 1996 that resulted in the band's major and sometimes-lamented change in sound style post Starside.

Etymology

The band derived its name from geis (pl. Geasa), which in Irish mythology and folklore, is an idiosyncratic taboo, whether of obligation or prohibition, similar to being under a vow or spell. A geis can be compared with a curse or, paradoxically, a gift. If someone under a geis violates the associated taboo, the infractor will suffer dishonor or even death. On the other hand, the observing of one's geasa is believed to bring power. Often it is women who place geasa upon men. In some cases the woman turns out to be a goddess or other sovereignty figure.

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Geis

In Irish mythology and folklore, a geis (/ˈɡɛʃ/; [ˈɟɛʃ]; plural geasa) is an idiosyncratic taboo, whether of obligation or prohibition, similar to being under a vow or spell. The Scottish Gaelic spelling "geas" is also common.

Geis in Irish Mythology

A geis can be compared with a curse or, paradoxically, a gift. If someone under a geis violates the associated taboo, the infractor will suffer dishonor or even death. On the other hand, the observing of one's geasa is believed to bring power. Often it is women who place geasa upon men. In some cases the woman turns out to be a goddess or other sovereignty figure.

The geis is often a key device in hero tales, such as that of Cúchulainn in Irish mythology. Traditionally, the doom of heroes comes about due to their violation of their geis, either by accident, or by having multiple geasa and then being placed in a position where they have no option but to violate one geis in order to maintain another. For instance, Cúchulainn has a geis to never eat dog meat, and he is also bound by a geis to eat any food offered to him by a woman. When a hag offers him dog meat, he has no way to emerge from the situation unscathed; this leads to his death.

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Geis

+/- (band)

+/-, or Plus/Minus, is an American indietronic band formed in 2001. The band makes use of both electronic and traditional instruments, and has sought to use electronics to recreate traditional indie rock song forms and instrumental structures. The group has released two albums on each of the American indie labels Teenbeat Records and Absolutely Kosher, and their track "All I do" was prominently featured in the soundtrack for the major film Wicker Park. The group has developed a devoted following in Japan and Taiwan, and has toured there frequently. Although many artists append bonus tracks onto the end of Japanese album releases to discourage purchasers from buying cheaper US import versions, the overseas versions of +/- albums are usually quite different from the US versions - tracklists can be rearranged, artwork with noticeable changes is used, and tracks from the US version can be replaced as well as augmented by bonus tracks.