ARCH ENEMY
This is Arch Enemy's debut CD featuring the Amotts (Christopher and Michael) on guitars, bass guitar was also done on here by Michael until they found a replacement following this release, Daniel Erlandsson is on drums and former Johan Liiva on throat. Let me tell you that for a debut CD, there are many classic tracks on here. Michael is the force behind the riff writing with his brother contributed more so on the leads than on the rhythms. His leads are more technical than his brothers, whereas Michael's melodies/leads are more "feeling" based.
There is no intro exhibited here, just the slam of a snare beat then enter the band with vigor. From my standpoint, this debut could've been stronger if vocalist Johan had a little more variety to his bellowing throat outputs. There aren't too much variation exhibited on here from him, but his vocals don't drown out the melodic riffs. He just needed to have more feeling put into them. They were quite boring. I'd have to say that some of my favorite melodic tracks are on here are plentiful primarily because it's melodic death metal is my favorite genre, of which Arch Enemy plays dominates in.
As I meantioned previously, there are some great lead guitar work by Christopher Amott. Just listen to the outro solo on "Fields Of Desolation" and you'll hear what I'm talking about. Christopher's leads are way more filled with arpeggios and speed picking than his brother Michaels. Like I mentioned again also, Michael has more emotion involved in his lead guitar work. He likes to use the wah-pedal exclusively on his solos. Michael was more technical when he was playing for Carcass, quite noteablely on their "Heartwork" release.
The production is solid, though the bass guitar is difficult to hear. All of the rest of the band member's main guitars, drums and vocals are well heard. The mixing was well done nevertheless and the guitars are what stands out the most here. Most tracks reflected how talented this band is. But getting rid of Johan was not a good move, even though his vocals here are more death metal oriented. This isn't the case on future releases when he was still with the band.
On the import CD of this release, there are some bonus tracks featuring Iron Maiden cover songs. Strange to hear them in B-tuning with Johan on vocals. Songs to check out here are "Bury Me An Angel", "Eureka" and "Fields Of Desolation." If you're a big fan of melodic death metal, then you should check this CD out. It's what melodic death metal is totally about. You'll hear what I'm talking about if you decide to purchase the album.
RATING: 8 of 10
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Review by - Death8699 (MethylinInfo@aol.com)
ARCH ENEMY
Alright, well this album is a great follow up from "Stigmata" (1998), but it lacks the heaviness of that their predecessor dishes out. Yes, it does this, but that doesn't make it a not so phenomenal release. Too many people, after they heard "Burning Bridges", gave it a lot of negative press and I heard a lot complaints. That would be such as the production not being thick enough, the leads were half-assed, and some guitar parts are just merely monotonous. The hell with that because there are some riffs on this release, especially the chorus of the song "Pilgrim", which makes my arm hair standup just to hear it.
I agree that there will be no more "Stigmata" for the band. But like releases because that one is almost impossible for them to ever duplicate. But they didn't give up like At The Gates did after "Slaughter of the Soul" (1995). Sit down and listen, Arch Enemy has tons of material on here I think you'll learn to respect over time. To those metal guitarists, they are in B-tuning on here. That makes the music sound heavier and more brutal. However, this album remains to pull off melodic riffs with Johan not drowing out the riffs. Michael Amott coached Johan through the release to this album. His vocals go hand in hand with the songs quite well.
A lot of the lyrics and sounds of it reveal dark depression some of us humans go throughout every day of our lives. To connect with that type of melancholy is great when you're really in that type of mood or maybe not? Nevertheless, "Burning Bridges" offers variety in songwriting style with no blast beating, but just great overall melodic death all the way through. They have a bonus track on here by Iron Maiden entitled "Aces High."
Johan Liiva, their previous vocalist, puts for I think his best vocal effort ever for Arch Enemy, making it that much easier to get into. Plus, it fits the music much better than say on the first Arch Enemy release entitled "Black Earth" (1996). The regular release of "Burning Bridges" isn't that track lengthy, but cherish every song because it will not let you down with just mediocre melodic death metal. Come on, this is Arch Enemy we are speaking of, they are giants within their own genre. Own it, now.
RATING: 9 of 10
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FATALIST
This traditional death metal act was formed back in 2006. Their origin is in Ventura, California. For this album, they consisted of being a 4-piece act. Neil Burkdoll on vocals/guitar, Wes Caley (Exhumed, Uphill Battle, Stonehelm) also on vocals/guitar, Art Hayes on bass and Tyler Castro on drums. Sadly, Wes Caley and Tyler Castro both left the band in 2009, shortly after this album was released. Now they are a 5-piece band, but with this album, they still were strong and heavily Swedish death metal influenced. The album consisted of sounding like that mostly; that and among other death metal bands as well.
This band plays strictly death metal. With heavy, B-tuned guitars, they are in some parts, wholly thick and consist of some melodic sounding riffs. All of the tracks are filled with semi-fast tempos, along with other songs with even sounding speeds. There really aren't any totally fast parts, but still they are aggressive. Just check out the songs "Frozen Epitaph" and "Morbid Derangement", as they are in summation a conglomeration of unique guitar riffs, played at varying speeds.
The melodic parts are totally apparent on many tracks, and other aggressive riffs played alongside their brutal vocal outputs. The drums rarely get to a hyper fast pace-they seem more subdued. That doesn't take away from the quality that this band created with this release. Death metal isn't played much better than what's concocted on here. The guitars are so chunky and heavy, but they don't drown out the more melodic/musical riff-writing.
There were some solos on this release, but they weren't too technical. They made the rhythms sound more augmented with enduring melodic temperaments. All of the tracks featured the band's main influences, which again sound like they are a Swedish death metal band. The fact that they originated in California is very surprising.
The production sound/mixing by Neil Burkdoll was solid, with every track including the remastered demo versions. Each instrument was heard with quality engineering. This album captures 7 songs from their "Loss" demo, plus 4 new songs all remastered onto one CD. All of the tracks are clear sounding, even the earlier demo tracks. They all were well played out and mixed properly. As far as the lyrical contents, they reflect that of death and negativity. Fatalist does no cover songs on here.
In conclusion, if you want a Swedish influenced death metal release with grim and morbidly infested lyrical content, then "The Depths of Inhumanity" delivers. This album is wholly a strong portrayal of how death metal should be played-with aggression, uncompromising guitar overtures and a complete onslaught of riff-writing. The song titles and lyrical content reflect how death metal is at its' finest. More songs to capture online via their MySpace page are located here: http://www.myspace.com/fatalist666. Other tracks to hear with vigor are "Homicidal Epitaph" and "Impulse To Kill." Fatalist defies the odds with songs that deliver fine traditional death metal.
RATING: 9 of 10
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Black Earth
(c) 1996 Wrong Again/Regain Records
The music features B-tuned guitars, which are thick and heavy throughout this whole CD. There are many tremelo picked rhythms as well as many melodic parts, especially during the chorus sections. They give the debut more augmentation to this aggressive main guitar riff-writing. The tempos vary. There are faster parts, more groove laden licks and slower chorus style writings. They keep the listener captivated with this writing ingenuity. In addition, there is an acoustic instrumental called "Time Capsule" and also a heavier one entitled "Demoniality."
Burning Bridges
(c) 1999 Century Media Records
Check out the songs "The Immortal", "Pilgrim", "Dead Inside" and "Silverwing." These, to me, are my personal favorite tracks. The later version of this release contains live songs, both new and old. The bonus CD features 17 tacks in all and runs for about 75 minutes in-length altogether. They are still able to pull off great the melodic riffs captured on their live songs. Definitely a good thing.
The Depths of Inhumanity
(c) 2009 Ibex Moon Records
Some songs are played with less aggression, though the main guitars still remained heavy. There were slower tempos, which captured the essence of the unique writing capabilities of this band. The guitars were more groove laden rather than existing to that of outlandish and nonsensical blast beats. As I mentioned, there were some faster drum parts, but mostly the band focused on having slower tempos instead of reflecting that of an extreme death metal act.
