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THE ARCHIVES
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Morrigan's Pit has closed down as of November 2006. The site and its articles will stay online as an archive until September at least, but probably longer.
The Archives
2002-2006
» CD REVIEWS
» INTERVIEWS
» LIVE REVIEWS
» SPECIALS
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AIRGED L'AMH
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The Silver Arm
2004
Black Lotus Records
website unknown
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1. Guardians Of The Ancient Deeds
2. Fate Of The King
3. Dissention Seeds
4. Warp Spasm
5. Mourning Grief
6. The Silver Arm
7. Balor Of The Evil Eye
8. The Arrival
9. Armies Assemble
10. Splendor Divine
11. Painless Vengeance
12. End Domain
13. Homeland
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Hm, epic folk metal from Greece or at least so the info says. A more detailed explanation in the info speaks of "a perfect combination of heavy and epic metal with folk elements and barbaric attitude". I wondered what to expect from this. Well, the cover art definitely already has a very Celtic touch and even the band's name Airged L'Amh is Gaelic and means "The Silver Arm" - so the album is kinda selftitled ;)
Why a band from Greece chose to take an old Celtic legend as a base for a concept while their own Greek culture is rich of legends is another thing. They probably found it more appealing, I just found it a little odd in the beginning.
I don't know if some synthetic string arrangements already classify as folk but with them the album kicks off into the first song "Guardian Of The Ancient Deeds" which is rather ordinary heavy metal though. And that applies to the majority of the songs on "The Silver Arm". There's a folky bit here and there (e.g. melodies with a medieval touch) but mainly these guys stick to old school melodic power metal of the kind that you have heard a hundered times before. Manowar is a reference that I was constantly thinking of. That I'm not a fan of the genre makes my job not easier although I'm aware that there are tons of bands that are a whole lot worse than Airged L'Amh. Apart from one ballad with acoustic guitars and keyboards ("Mourning Grief") and the few folky parts all of the songs are up-tempo or even speedy.
Productionwise a bit heavier guitars would have improved the overall impact of the songs because they they appear a little bit thin here and there (which also results in the drums disturbing the sound as they are too much up front).
Still, a nice effort and I'm quite sure that fans of this kind of music will like the album. If you get the chance, give it a try. All others will probably find it boring.
submitted by Cora 18.12.2004
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rating 1 - 5 Morrigans
5 = awesome, 4 = good, 3 = average, 2 = keep practising, 1 = sell your gear!
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