ÀRSAIDH – ROOTS (Darker Than Black Records)

For some totally illogical reason – I have no idea why – I harboured very high expectations for this album, even though it comes from a totally unknown entity. Just had a gut feeling it was going to be great… Unfortunately, ‘Roots’ doesn’t manage to give me what I was hoping for.

Àrsaidh is a one-man act from Scotland performing atmospheric Black Metal which pays homage to the mysterious history and heritage of the creator’s native Highlands. Three lengthy songs plus one short instrumental add up to a total running time of 50 minutes.

A. boldly incorporates violin, keys, bagpipes (of course) and acoustic guitars into the mix but, alas, his ambition backfires as the folk influences become way too pronounced for my liking and, to my displeased ears, the songs come across as long rather than epic.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to personal taste and I find ‘Roots’ to be too melodic and lush. I’m sure lots of people will get off on this but I don’t particularly like pagan metal.

Evilometer: 222/666