| CD REVIEW Armageddon |
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Band: Armageddon It all started in 1997. When Arch Enemy were visiting Japan, Chris Amott started working on some ideas he had in mind, things that were rather different from Arch Enemy’s material. After a while, he recorded the melodic Death Metal album Crossing The Rubicon (1997) under the moniker of Armageddon, done with assistance of vocalist Jonas Nyrén (In Thy Dreams), Arch Enemy-colleague Martin Bengtsson (b), and well-known drummer Peter Wildoer, who joined Arch Enemy too, shortly after. The album was released through (the now defunct) W.A.R. Records in Europe, as well as though the Japanese label Toy’s Factory. Things went quite quiet after the release, especially because Chris especially focused on Arch Enemy. However, in 2000 Armageddon recorded its second studio album, called Embrace The Mystery, with, besides Chris, Rickard Bengtsson (vocals and recording duties; especially known as producer to many heavy bands as well as AOR-formations), Dick Lövgren (Eucharist, Time Requiem, In Flames, Meshuggah, Last Tribe, etc.) on bass, drummer Daniel Erlandsson (In Flames, The End, Dimension Zero, Eucharist, Carcass amongst others). The album was mixed, by the way, by Fredrik Nordström at his Fredman Studio and was released through Toy’s Factory for Japan exclusively. The same goes for the third release, called Three, which wasn’t available outside Japan. This piece was the first one with Chris on vocals too (besides guitars), and with session assistance of, again, Daniel (on drums) and Eucharist’s Tobias Gustafsson (b). Century Media is now about to re-release album two and three worldwide, including bonus material and interesting liner notes. The material differs a lot from Arch Enemy’s, because the approach is closer related to Power / Heavy Metal than Death Metal (with exception of the approach on the debut, Crossing The Rubicon, which hasn’t been re-issued yet). Embrace The Mystery stands for classic and harmonious Heavy Metal with a guitar-oriented sound, melodic rhythms and clean vocals, as well as fiery (read: virtuosic) guitar solos and riffs and some atmospheric keyboards. The material is closely related to ‘Traditional’ Metal and almost completely lacks of the Death Metal-approach that characterised the debut album. Fredrik Nordström’s mixing duties of course explain the decent, powerful sound, but all honour goes to Chris, who does certainly pays tribute to the approach of the nineties. Three (what an intelligent title for a third recording!) has a more Power / Thrash Metal approach, still with a touch of early-nineties glorification. The songs are rougher and more pounding than on the second full length, and the rhythm is faster and heavier. This album also exhales a much more universal spirit, including elements from the NWOBHM-scene and eighties Rock / Metal. The sound too is more guitar-driven and overpowering and the whole is closer related to the 1997-debut when it comes to intensity. Besides, the variation does show a master brain behind it. The total running time of this DCD, including the bonus songs, clocks over one hundred minutes, and because of the ‘rarity’ (as mentioned before, both releases have been released in Japan exclusively before, so it was really hard to get / find this material decently outside Japan) it is highly recommended to a certain audience… --/100 Ivan Tibos. |