The following description comes from the event organizer.

Deep in the wintry woods of Gog Magog Hill something stirred. New sounds tangled with woodsmoke as The Trials of Cato fused their usual flashing Celtic instrumental interplay with striking new compositions to bring us the follow up to their award-winning debut. Gog Magog is The Trials of Cato’s hugely anticipated second album, scheduled for release in February 2023.

Still flying the flag of folk music, Gog Magog sees the band pull harder than ever on the genre’s familiar frame to create something utterly arresting and modern. Capitalizing on their enforced closeting during the pandemic, The Trials of Cato have undoubtedly evolved during this period, boiling down the energy of their early years into a bold new sound. The resulting album presents the broadest spectrum of their collective talents yet, a product of swallowing the folk tradition whole and completely reimagining it in a contemporary context.  

Formed in Beirut, Lebanon, The Trials of Cato have blazed a trail like no other since returning to the UK in 2016. Memorable performances across Britain, Europe, and North America led to Mark Radcliffe hailing the band as ‘one of the real discoveries on the folk circuit in recent times’, with their 2018 debut Hide and Hair going on to win a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for ‘Best Album’. With Gog Magog, the ‘Sex Pistols of folk’ (John Davis – Led Zeppelin, Gorrilaz) now present their most daring music to date.