Band : Arkangel
Album title : Arkangel Is Your Enemy
Label : GSR
Distributor : Suburban
Release date : 20/06/2008
Release : CD

This Brussels based Metalcore act (actually, they play Metal with influences from Hardcore) was formed in the year 1997 in the wake of the H8000 scene (which was actually concentrated more around the city of Kortrijk, and getting a slight deminishment of popularity around that time). A year later saw the release of the band's debut mini-album Prayers Upon Deaf Ears onthe small RPP imprint, and both press and music fans deservedly spoke of a true revelation in the scene.

Inevitably, the band was able to get a better deal with Good Life Recordings for the 1999 full-length Dead Man Walking, the release of which gained the band popularity all around Europe, but also the US and beyond. In 2001 Arkangel played at the American Hellfest in Syracuse, and followed that up with more shows in Canada. During 2002-2003, the band played shows all over Europe (enabling them to play support to the likes of Machine Head and others) and headlined the infamous Spannish Sant Feliu Hardcore Fest. At this point I would like to interject that I had personally gotten the feeling that the band had all but gone. Sure, one could find announcements for some gigs on Belgian soil every now and then, but that was about the only sign of life from the Arkangel camp we would get. Eventually, the band got around to recording their new album Hope You Die By Overdose in August 2004, and released it on their own Private Hell Records in November of that same year.

Quite frankly, news of the release complétely passed me by, so to me it was even more like as if the band had withered and gone. In contrast however, Arkangel was very much alive indeed and in deed, as the followed up the release with a brace of shows in Belgium, Holland, France, and the UK, and then got the chance to play at the very first edition of the Independent D festival in Japan (where they graced the stage alongside Misfits, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and more). Upon their return, the band continued to plague European stages, attaining a highlight with the Fury Fest in France which also hosted (among others) Anthrax, Fantomas, Mastodon, Megadeth, Motörhead, Neurosis, and Slayer.

In October 2005 Hope You Die By Overdose was licenced by Japanese label God's Child Music, and a full Japanese tour (plus a gig in Seoul, Korea) followed. In December that same year, the band announced the possible re-issue in 2006 of their debut mini-album Prayers Upon Dead Ears by some Underground Polish label, but since the promised update never followed, we can asume the re-issue eventually fell through. Timewarp to March 2007, when singer Baldur Vilmundarson, guitarist Michel Kirby, bassist Medhi Birouk Thepegnier, and drummer David Vande Zande proudly announce the induction to their fold of former Es La Guerilla & Hangman's Chair guitarist Julien "Rour" Chanut...and the fact that they started working on a new album! On the following May 17, the band play a show (together with Length Of Time) at Brussel's Magazin 4 to celebrate their 10th anniversary. The recordings for the album are eventually executed in December 2007 and January 2008 at De Studio in Asse, under the productional supervision of Dirk Miers. Meanwhile it is also revealed that the band signed to none less than the Dutch GSR Music imprint, who allow the mastering of the album to be done by the infamous Alan Douches at his own Westwestside Studios in the US.

As a result, the sound of Arkangel's third full-length album is simply devastating. Musically, the band is at an all-time high, and back to the point of their debut mini-album (which is still the best they ever released in my personal opinion...but let's not forget that this opinion is tainted with the lack of knowledge concerning the sophomore album). Baldur's voice may have slightly changed since (the downfall of evolution), but his characteristics are still there...and what with having two guitarists in the band, the recordings can be effortlessly reproduced in live conditions! The band goes full-trottle from beginning to end...well, not completely, as they finish song number three, "Slow But Heavy" (also posted on their MySpace) with a bit of atmospheric piano...and end the album (after a breath of silence) with the same piano piece played in reverse, and with possibly an additional bit of distortion on it as well. Surf to myspace.com/privatehell to check out said song and one off each other release, and dare tell me I'm wrong in catapulting Arkangel Is Your Enemy into my "Best Albums Of 2008"-list! I dare you!!! Well, I've had the advantage to listen to the complete album before making my assessment, so maybe you should do the same, eh?

98/100

Tony.