An Cat Dubh was formed in the early '90s in Darmstadt, Germany by former Paddy Goes to Holyhead member Andreas Reich as a vehicle for expressing his type of Celtic rock. An Cat Dubh features more prominent electric guitars and aggressive vocals than Reich's past group, which translates into a generally more hard rocking style. They preferred traditional numbers over self-penned ones, especially on their early albums, Totally out of Time, Black is the Colour, and Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue. Their fourth recording, The Black Cat's Around, was a live effort recorded in their home town which captured their most well-known songs from their first three albums. When they returned from the studio in 1998 with Long Time No See, a noticeably different product was revealed. That album included only three traditional songs and featured several songs written by their drummer Stefan, revealing his (and presumably the band's) skepticism and anger toward organized religion. Classics Collection was issued in 1999 and is comprised of 15 tracks from their 1992-1995 recordings. ~ Dave Sleger