Armageddon
Crossing The Rubicon
[WAR]


Chris Amott and friends rock with classic thrash/heavy power metal (read: "NWOSMDM") reminiscent of Iron Maiden (of course), but also of Destruction (the riff from "Asteroid Dominion" could've been lifted from "Curse The Gods") and at the occasional moment, oddly enough, Megadeth. The Megadeth sound comes in mostly during the solos - reminding me both of Chris Poland's wicked runs and Marty Friedman's lush neo-classicism (of course with heavy helpings of Mike Amott's sense of dynamic and vibrato). There is a waste of 1's and 0's on track 7, some drum thing happening - not very interesting at all. But overall, these wacky influences combine to create a melodic Swedish metal album worth checking out (if you can find the damn thing). Vocals are the Gothenburg rasp. Production is clear, if a bit lacking in the drum department (recording - the playing is fine).


© 2000 j. mcintyre