Hearse - Official Website


Armageddon, Mon Amour

Sweden Country of Origin: Sweden

Armageddon, Mon Amour
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Type: Full-Length
Release Date: 2004
Genre: Death, Melodic, Thrash
1. DI Sumus Nunc!
2. Cry In Dark
3. Immortal Time
4. Dead Alley
1. Mountain Of The Solar Eclipse
2. Turncoat
3. Crops Of Waste
4. In Love And War
5. Ticket To Devastation
6. Tools
7. Cambodia
8. Sodi
9. Play Without Rules
10. Determination
11. Armageddon, Mon Amour

Review by Adam M on October 16, 2012.

Enslaved return to the fold with another quality album in "RIITIIR". The band is taking a more progressive and spacey direction on this album. The songs are given more room to breathe with an increased song length and looser structures overall. This allows the band to continue to evolve in a positive and interesting direction and shows that there is no sign of them bowing down to the mainstream or simplifying their sound in any manner.

This album may appeal to a different brand of people than the last one, however. It doesn’t have the initial knockout impact of "Axioma Ethica Odini" and requires more multiple listens to further digest the more off tangent nature of the material. There are many twists and turns that need further investigation to become entranced with overall. However, this album also doesn’t have as many highlight tracks as the last album. The album opener 'Thoughts Like Hammers' is a far cry from the storming beginning that 'Ethica Odini' was to its predecessor. There is a lot of material to like on "RIITTIIR", but it will still only end up being one of the better albums of the year instead of the best album of the year like the "Axioma Ethica Odini". It’s difficult to find a highlight song, but the last song 'Forsaken' is definitely a standout much like the closing one 'Lightning' was on the previous album. It features some more subtle moments combined with more grandiose ones and results in an excellent way to close the album.

Overall, this album is a grower and excellent addition to the Enslaved disography, but it also has a few releases that surpass it within their discography as well.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9.5
Atmosphere: 9
Production: 9
Originality: 8.5
Overall: 9

Rating: 9 out of 10

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Review by Vladimir on May 14, 2024.

From the misty crypts of Pilsen in Czech Republic, comes a black metal band Beyond The Dark Angel with their debut self-released EP Immortal Time, to haunt the living and feast on the cowardly. Let's see what wicked thoughts lie Beyond The Dark Angel.

As the opening track 'DI Sumus Nunc!' commences with thunderstorms and demonic chanting, it gradually builds up the doom and gloom that comes afterwards, with slow-tempo riffing and growling vocals in a very death metal inspired black metal fashion. This formula is carried over with the title track 'Immortal Time', which also incorporates some guitar melodies and keyboards that enrichen the overall sound along with the addition of catchy riffing and clean guitar sections. The final track 'Dead Alley' goes for a slightly different approach than the previous track, while still maintaining that established song structure. Overall, the EP has a strong emphasis on mood and melancholy, mostly due to its heavy use of slow-tempo which fuses black metal with some borderline melodic death metal elements.

Despite having some ideas that make the output just a bit richer, the songwriting still remains pretty simplistic and straightforward, without any actual dynamics or eye-catching moments. The EP as a whole is very easy to follow along, yet a bit lacking in terms of its song ideas, which don't really provide anything exceptional or worth mentioning. The overall direction with the more melodic death metal inspired black metal doesn't seem like a bad idea, however it seems a tad bit empty and not really hitting mark quite as strong as it should. That's not to say that the songs are bad, it's just that they don't stand out in any way, because they miss a good riff, melody or even a chorus that would really make you want to listen to this EP on repeat.

This EP seems like a good idea that just wasn't put to a good use, more like a slight introduction to what the band is aiming for but they're not just quite there yet. I believe that the band can definitely expand on their ideas without making them feel a bit dry and incomplete, because I really want to hear something much more engaging from these guys. Nevertheless, I like the fact that it's not a very typical and uninspiring black metal output with a copy paste formula from start to finish, so I hope that in the future they will make something better that will leave a stronger mark.

Rating: 6.6 out of 10

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Review by Joshua on April 5, 2004.

It’s hard to find enough superlatives to finish this review. This review, in fact, is increasingly difficult to write – I keep hitting “repeat”, and never writing anything. I’ve been doing this all weekend, and would continue my listening, if not for increasing pressure to finish this review.

The dilemma isn’t what to say, but where to properly begin singing this album’s praises. It’s been a quarter century since thrash metal debuted with the NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal); fifteen years since death metal took root in Florida; a decade since the Swedish sound caught on; and I’ve heard maybe a handful of albums that were this good. Hearse are the closest thing yet to a perfect combination of the three. Not since Edge of Sanity’s nearly perfect Purgatory Afterglow has any band produced a death metal album where every riff is interesting, every song original, everything a pounding, energizing anthem. Wasn’t this thrash metal’s ultimate goal? Wasn’t this what made such albums as Master of Puppets and Among the Living great? That’s what one hears throughout this album, starting with a monumental opener…

…and that’s their weakest song. The strongest, “In Love and War”, “Tools”, and “Cambodia”, epitomize the thrash metal anthem. I know there are death metal vocals, but they’re pure thrash metal anthems. Judas Priest, in their bygone heyday, would be hard-pressed to approach this music, much less surpass the more impressive songs. Metallica were barely this good. Latecomer Swedish success stories such as In Flames were never close. Most of the music is structured similarly to the old trash metal giants, adopting the familiar verse-chorus-verse approach, but it’s so magnificently crafted that each composition sounds original. I say “most” because there are several forays into older Swedish death metal, particularly later in the album, sounding similar to the better parts of old Entombed and Arch Enemy. “Play without Rules” sounds a lot like the Entombed classic “Sinners Bleed”, mixed with parts of Sigh’s Imaginary Sonicscape — the timing of the keyboard piece is genius, preventing the song from degenerating into near-plagiarism. Taken individually, each could be the theme for thousands of rebellious youth. Taken together, the adrenaline rush they create is a central nervous system overload.

In case I haven’t made this obvious, Hearse have a prominent thrash influence. Anyone can hear it; I draw parallels to everything from Motorhead (Campbell-Würzel era), to Anthrax (circa Among the Living) to the bygone wonder that was Exodus. The death metal influence is most reminiscent of Edge of Sanity’s Purgatory Afterglow, The Haunted’s Made Me Do It, and Arch Enemy’s Stigmata, all of which possessed a strong thrash influence. Then again, this album isn’t a mere repetition of these. This remains original. It’s a sign of remarkable talent, really, that Hearse can begin with such well-established ideas, and present them in an amazing new light.

What sets this apart, then? Why did Hearse succeed so famously, where others merely tried? Here, I am tacky, and answer my own rather stupid question: this album plays as if Hearse studied which elements other bands did right, and then incorporated only those. For example, keyboards are very seldom used, and, even then, only appear to prevent songs from growing monotonous. Johan Liiva only sings clearly on the last couple of songs, and is restricted to a range of notes that he hits flawlessly. Furthermore, the album’s arrangement is clever enough that it flows as a whole entity, from start to finish, rather than feeling like a bunch of disconnected, choppy segments. To put this another way, the clichés that cheapen and bastardize so many other newer metal albums simply aren’t present here. Hearse either tuned them down, or left them out.

Where does that leave us? Well, the end result is a monumental release, bridging the gap between European death metal and old-school thrash metal, nearly perfect in its’ execution. Ten years from now, this will be counted among the new generation of metal greats. The next generation of metal bands will all list this disc among their influences, and, much like today’s bands cover Venom and Motorhead, most of tomorrow’s bands will cover Hearse. This is one for the ages. This is what heavy metal ought to be. Buy this, even if you purchase no other music this year.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 10 (THAT’S RIGHT, I SAID “10”.)
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 10
Originality: 9
Overall: 10

Rating: 9.8 out of 10

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