Doomsday Machine

by

Arch Enemy

Edit

Since the spring of 2005, Arch Enemy have been promising that their newest album would be darker and heavier than their recent work. After the highly mixed opinions over the vocals of newcomer Angela Gossow on 2001's _Wages of Sin_, and the shorter, more streamlined styles of 2003's _Anthems of Rebellion_, the band more than lived up to that promise. Their latest effort, _Doomsday Machine_, ranks alongside Meshuggah's _Catch ThirtyThr33_ and Darkane's _Layers of Lies_ as being one of the best Swedish metal albums in the past year.

The aforementioned "streamlined" trimmings from _Anthems of Rebellion_ seem to have been put onto the back burner on _Doomsday Machine_. The Amott brothers are just as good as they've ever been, again claiming the title as one of the tightest heavy metal guitar duos of all time, with their leads, solos, and melodies much more of a throwback to their _Stigmata_ (1998) and _Burning Bridges_ (1999) days. The rhythm section is beefed up a lot more as well; Sharlee D'Angelo's bass adds a distinctively deep backdrop to the guitars, and Daniel Erlandsson (who had promised more variation in his drumming) uses his set to create rhythms that EXPLODE in bursts of thunder, even utilizing blast beats to intensify and complement the album's heaviness.

Aside from its more powerful sound, perhaps the most distinguishing and significant aspect of _Doomsday Machine_ are Angela Gossow's vocals. Without a shadow of a doubt, this is her best performance to date. She uses a lot more range this time around; she's always had range, if not as much as many a fan (spoiled on AE's original vocalist Johan Liiva) would have liked. But now she utilizes subtle dynamics in her voice to express emotion (even if all the "emotion" is just different forms of anger), presenting a much more demanding presence in the music.

As expected of Arch Enemy, there are ultra-fast songs which could well decapitate someone if they try to bang their heads in time, such as the lead single "Nemesis," "I Am Legend/Out for Blood," and "Machtkampf." "I Am Legend/Out for Blood" (undoubtedly titled after the epic Richard Matheson vampire novel) features simply demonic vocals, and an outstanding use of blast-beats in the bridge; this song alone shows Arch Enemy's death metal roots. "My Apocalypse" sports especially intricate drum work, and a well-timed break with brilliant guitar harmonies, slowly building in tempo until the song returns to its overall heaviness. Even the two instrumental tracks on this album, "Hybrids of Steel" and intro track "Enter the Machine," serve as more than just filler. The former, clocking in at almost four minutes, is a full-length composition, with back-and-forth guitar duels, nice tempo and key changes, and excellent use of harmonies.

Even the best works of an artist have their flaws, and this album is no exception. There are a couple of instances which shows a lack of fresh ideas, and only on the part of Christopher Amott. The outro lead on "Mechanic God Creation" is a blatant rehash of Michael's final solo on "Silent Wars," from _Anthems of Rebellion_. Also, the final lead on "Machtkampf" is based off of the same melody as his own solo on the _Wages of Sin_ track "Burning Angel." Perhaps Christopher just likes to play these melodies (a lot), or perhaps the band deemed these leads as being just what the songs needed, but the similarities to their older material is uncanny. Thankfully, however, these are the only low points on the album, and hardly blemish the overall work.

With the recent upheaval of attention towards Swedish metal in the United States, there have been some musical sacrifices made by bands such as In Flames and Soilwork, who were both spoiled to varying degrees by their sudden popularity. Because of the inclusion of both of these bands (as well as Arch Enemy themselves) on the Ozzfest '05 bill, many a fan has begun to think that the future of Swedish metal was looking grim. However, through _Doomsday Machine_, Arch Enemy show no signs of slowing down, softening up, or any other qualities which could be used to label the band as "selling out." Having finally found the proper formulas which work best for their music, Arch Enemy have released their best album since _Burning Bridges_. It only can get better from here.

One criticism I frequently hear is that the ejection of Johan Liiva for Angela Gossow was a terrible move. Myself, I think that Angela's vocals are far superior to Liiva's and they give the band a much more aggressive and extreme sound. I have to say though, that while it was a good idea, doing so changed the band for the worse. "Wages of Sin" was a good CD. "Anthems of Rebellion" was a disappointment as we saw Arch Enemy sacrifice a lot of the technicality that made Arch Enemy the legends they were. And that brings us to "Doomsday Machine."

"Doomsday Machine" has basically left the technical side of their musicianship behind for a much more--dare I say--radio-friendly sound. After track 3 all the songs are slow, slow like Arch Enemy used to use as a sort of low note on their CD's to bring it down for a bit. Now, instead of being something used to add flavor their CD's, Arch Enemy uses a bunch of them as the entire CD. After about track 4, the CD becomes utterly boring and monotonous.

As far as the musicianship goes, the guitar solos are slow and boring--nothing like they used to play back in the day. There is a dramatic decrease in the number of riffs, so basically all you hear from the guitars is a few chords before the solos that aren't much better the mere riffs they used to play. I can see their next CD being the Arch Enemy version of "Stabbing the Drama."

As far as the drumming goes, I've never really understood why Daniel Erlandsson has such a following. He's got some great speed, and he's very powerful, but he's not as creative as I would like. He also never seems to develop his style. When I compare him to his brother, there's no competition. If you listen to Cradle of Filth's new stuff, Adrian's playing is far advanced over his stuff from At the Gates, or even from his first album with Cradle. Daniel on the other hand, still sounds basically the same as he did years ago.

But at least he stayed constant, instead of moving backward like the Ammott brothers or Angela Gossow. In Angela's defense, she did have to suffer throat surgery, and that can't have done good things for her, but that doesn't excuse her from doing her vocals herself. On this CD she uses a disappointingly high amount of processing, to the point that she sounds weak and incapable as a vocalist.

To sum up, this CD is unworthy of the Arch Enemy name. Simple as that. If you're only going to buy one CD today, opt for something else.