According to their website, AIRGED L’AMH is Gaelic for "The Silver Arm" so I guess this makes this album a self-titled release. These guys are a leather clad power/folk metal band hailing from Greece, and this is their debut full-length album. It follows their 1996 demo "A Vertigo Edda Arised", which was re-released under the name of “One Eyed God" in 2002. "The Silver Arm" is a concept album based on an old Celtic legend.

While the cover of this album does look pretty cool and I always like the idea of metal songs about ancient battles and warriors, I'm not sure if the band has reached their full potential with this release. Sure the production is fitting and adequate, but the sound is a little stereotyped and could do with a little more grunt. The folk moments seem quite forced (for example, “Mountain Grief”) and the heavy moments should have more power. There were a number of bands in the mid to late 80’s that were doing similar things way back when. It worked then because this stuff was quite fresh and original. I really don't hear anything new on this release that would make me want to re-live the experience.

Maybe I am being too hard on the band, after all there are some good moments including some well-constructed solos and many great chugging riffs for moshing it up. But, apart from that I find that there is very little for me to rave over with this release. The songs seem to have enough depth to them but the album just doesn’t deliver. For more information about these Greek warriors, check out the link below.

- Saltry

OFFICIAL SITE: www.airgedlamh.com

MP3 SOUND SCRAP: War Spasm

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