Post by Demon of the Fall on Sept 20, 2005 10:35:47 GMT -5
Yeah, I'm bored, so I decided to write a review of an album I just bought recently... maybe more will follow, and maybe you can make your own as well... who knows...
Anyway, here are my thoughts on the newest Arch Enemy cd, Doomsday Machine:
I had been looking forward to this album for a while now, and was excited when I finally got it home for a first listen-through.
The instrumental introduction sets the mood very well, and leads perfectly into the thrashy opening song, Taking Back My Soul. This song doesn't really fuck around very much, quickly switching parts, and it has a fantastic, multi-part bridge, with some great soloing. I'm psyched up by the time this one ends.
And then the next song, Nemesis, begins, and it's a high speed blast, at least until the chorus, which sounds oddly anthem-like, almost like We Will Rise. Overall it's a good song, but the effects added to Angela Gossow's screams here are distasteful at best, and detract from what would otherwise be a great track. As is, it's solid.
And then we come to the worst song I've ever heard from Arch Enemy, by far... My Apocalypse. Were they drunk when they made this? It sounds like a song from a Rob Zombie album... and I don't mind Rob Zombie(usually), but that kind of stuff doesn't really belong on what is supposed to be a thrash/death metal cd. Anyway, it's a very bad song, the only saving grace being Daniel Erlandsson's interesting drum parts.
Next song, Carry the Cross... filler. Essentially a weaker version of We Will Rise. Next.
I Am Legend/Out For Blood is the next track... and this is the song that I paid money to hear! The intro is vaguely reminiscent of old Metallica/Megadeth, but sounds better than either. It then kicks into a thrash-fest, which would get repetitive, but it then switches into a killer bridge, complete with a tasty blast beat, a great solo, and some damn fine leadwork, leading back into the finish.
Next song, Skeleton Dance... eh, more filler. The main riff is catchy on the first go-around, but it's repeated too often. And the voice effects are really starting to get old now.
The next track is a good one, an instrumental known as Hybrids of Steel. It's damn catchy, I'll put it at that. It's a great track, right until the end, in which they blatantly rip-off Opeth's Deliverance. I'm sorry, but it sounds too damn similar to be a coincidence. Next.
Mechanic God Creation is next, and it is a bore-fest. It has great atmosphere, and the intro makes me think of Doom, which is sweet, but the song is just slow, chuggy filler.
Machtkampf is the next track, and it picks up the pace a bit. While it follows the same damn song structure yet again(verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, wash, rinse, repeat), it's pace makes up for it. And something about it makes me think of the Matrix, which is cool too.
The last song, Slaves of Yesterday, is an alright finisher. It's rather unremarkable, but it does project a rather bleak atmosphere, which I appreciate.
In closing... I have developed a love/hate relationship with this album. There some parts that are really good, and some parts that are really bad. Arch Enemy is scaring me a bit, because they are coming close to abandoning death metal altogether, instead going toward a strange, ugly fusion of techno and slow, chuggy heavy metal. Hopefully this is just a stage that they are going through, and not a sign of where they are heading in the future.
Buy/download it with caution.
Anyway, here are my thoughts on the newest Arch Enemy cd, Doomsday Machine:
I had been looking forward to this album for a while now, and was excited when I finally got it home for a first listen-through.
The instrumental introduction sets the mood very well, and leads perfectly into the thrashy opening song, Taking Back My Soul. This song doesn't really fuck around very much, quickly switching parts, and it has a fantastic, multi-part bridge, with some great soloing. I'm psyched up by the time this one ends.
And then the next song, Nemesis, begins, and it's a high speed blast, at least until the chorus, which sounds oddly anthem-like, almost like We Will Rise. Overall it's a good song, but the effects added to Angela Gossow's screams here are distasteful at best, and detract from what would otherwise be a great track. As is, it's solid.
And then we come to the worst song I've ever heard from Arch Enemy, by far... My Apocalypse. Were they drunk when they made this? It sounds like a song from a Rob Zombie album... and I don't mind Rob Zombie(usually), but that kind of stuff doesn't really belong on what is supposed to be a thrash/death metal cd. Anyway, it's a very bad song, the only saving grace being Daniel Erlandsson's interesting drum parts.
Next song, Carry the Cross... filler. Essentially a weaker version of We Will Rise. Next.
I Am Legend/Out For Blood is the next track... and this is the song that I paid money to hear! The intro is vaguely reminiscent of old Metallica/Megadeth, but sounds better than either. It then kicks into a thrash-fest, which would get repetitive, but it then switches into a killer bridge, complete with a tasty blast beat, a great solo, and some damn fine leadwork, leading back into the finish.
Next song, Skeleton Dance... eh, more filler. The main riff is catchy on the first go-around, but it's repeated too often. And the voice effects are really starting to get old now.
The next track is a good one, an instrumental known as Hybrids of Steel. It's damn catchy, I'll put it at that. It's a great track, right until the end, in which they blatantly rip-off Opeth's Deliverance. I'm sorry, but it sounds too damn similar to be a coincidence. Next.
Mechanic God Creation is next, and it is a bore-fest. It has great atmosphere, and the intro makes me think of Doom, which is sweet, but the song is just slow, chuggy filler.
Machtkampf is the next track, and it picks up the pace a bit. While it follows the same damn song structure yet again(verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, wash, rinse, repeat), it's pace makes up for it. And something about it makes me think of the Matrix, which is cool too.
The last song, Slaves of Yesterday, is an alright finisher. It's rather unremarkable, but it does project a rather bleak atmosphere, which I appreciate.
In closing... I have developed a love/hate relationship with this album. There some parts that are really good, and some parts that are really bad. Arch Enemy is scaring me a bit, because they are coming close to abandoning death metal altogether, instead going toward a strange, ugly fusion of techno and slow, chuggy heavy metal. Hopefully this is just a stage that they are going through, and not a sign of where they are heading in the future.
Buy/download it with caution.
