Few people into the darker side of metal could possibly have missed
Arch Enemy during the last few years. They have been promoted massively and also toured most of the world. And even if you are one of those who don't think women have a place in metal, you must admit that Angela Gossow has an impressive voice. Since I have had the pleasure of seeing them live, I can also confirm that they do a pretty good live show too. So all in all, you could expect
Doomsday Machine to get one of the highest ratings here at
RevelationZ, right? Well...
The first thing to notice is the very impressive sound. Their latest releases have all had a good production but this one is surely the best to date. All instruments clear and crisp in the mix, especially guitars are great here. Angela's voice is raw and full of venom. I wasn't all that surprised when I saw that Andy Sneap mixed and mastered, as the sound is not all that far from
Nevermore's latest masterpiece,
This Godless Endeavor, which Andy Sneap also had his hands on. Very impressive, mr. Sneap.
The Amott brothers' dual guitar attack is in the front most of the time with the very melodic guitar parts that seem to be their trademark. The characteristic wahwah pedal sound is used very often, giving the searing leads an emotional quality rarely found in death metal. The same characteristic searing lead sound is backed up by often groovy rythm parts, sometimes giving way to rock n roll parts giving them a much broader sound picture than just restricting them to death or thrash. They have even given place to some samples in a few places, for example in
My Apocalypse where they use a claustrophobic submarine sound reminding me of the movie U-571.
Being one of the very few female vocalists in extreme metal, Angela Gossow has probably also attracted quite a lot of attention just because she is a woman. Even though her voice is not as deep as a man's she has other qualities. She has more of a snarling voice dripping with venom and there's no doubt that this is one pissed off bitch!
The songs on
Doomsday Machine is a mixed lot. In short, there are a few very good songs, some that are pretty good and a few that don't really do anything for me. The opener
Taking Back My Soul after the intro is classic
Arch Enemy, reminding me of
Enemy Within from
Wages of Sin. It's so very melodic and catchy when the chorus kicks in, just classy as hell. The two next songs,
Nemesis and
My Apocalypse are also great but after that the music seems less inspired. For example I
Am Legend/Out For Blood, where the
I Am Legend-part starts out very average but after a strange break which leads into
Out For Blood just kicks ass. Another example is the instrumental,
Hybrids of Steel, which just is too damn happy for a metal album! Apart from these few misses, the rest of the songs are pretty good.
In my copy of
Doomsday Machine, there is also a mini-dvd (damn, that's a cute little thing!) with a video of
Nemesis and a preview of two songs from an upcoming live dvd. Again the sound of Andy Sneap is impressive as is the picture. Any fan of
Arch Enemy should get their hands on that dvd as soon as it comes out. Judging from this teaser dvd it should be well worth the money.
As I hinted at in the introduction of this review, Doomsday Machine hasn't earned the highest possible rating. It started out great with some killer songs and an amazing sound but they obviously put the hits in the beginning. If the rest of the songs could have kept up the standard of the first ones, they would probably have had a serious hit in their hands. As most of you should know, we don't hand out the big ratings here unless we are truly impressed. I like the cd but with the few misses I have already mentioned, there is still something to work on for
Arch Enemy. I'll be impressed the day they manage to keep the quality consistent for a whole album, a problem I've also seen on their two latest releases. And for my taste they could also have kept it a bit heavier. It's okay to cover more genres but some parts here are just too soft for my likings.
Apart from these few problems, Doomsday Machine stands out with it's most impressive production, the amazing guitar solos and generally solid musicianship. I can also see the videos being aired massively because when
Arch Enemy are good, they kick some serious ass. Doomsday Machine should keep most fans happy.
The rating in this review is only for the cd and not the bonus dvd.
Written by
Tajs Thursday, November 3, 2005
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