Almost 10 years after their great demo, Ares Kingdom come back with their first full length. I have been waiting for this album for a long time, but now all I can say is that the wait was damn worth it. This is simply excellent. The line up consists now of Doug Overbay , Alex Blume (ex Nepenthe) and the founding members Chuck Keller and Mike Miller (both ex Order From Chaos). Things haven’t really changed over these ten years, Ares Kingdom still play their own thing, which is a brilliant mix of Death Metal , Thrash and some Heavy Metal, melody and aggression are melted together in a superb way, nothing really original but performed in an unique way. Comparisons to Order From Chaos and Nepenthe are quite out of place, as this doesn’t really sound like a continuation of the mentioned bands. Ares Kingdom aren’t twisted and vicious as Order From Chaos, nor so utterly dark and asphyxiating as Nepenthe/Ligeia. They definitely have a sound of their own. Alex Blume is doing a great job on vocals (in the beginning Chuck Keller used to sing), Mike Miller is as always awesome on drums, and Chuck Keller demonstrates once again to be a great guitar player and offers some brilliant solos as well. It is hard to pick one particular track, as there really are no fillers in this album, the whole record is utterly intense and aggressive, you will feel this old school vibe throughout all the 8 tracks composing this underground jewel. The production and sound on this album are top notch, clean and powerful without being so polished as many records of today, all instruments have been skilfully exalted in the mix. Package is neat and elegant reeking of 80’s era Bathory, with great lyrics included and a cool photo collage as well. If you are into ancient Death Metal and Thrash you will find this album to be one of the best surprises of this year. If you are into more modern things and expect some hyper brutal or experimental or whatever stuff, just ignore this album as it‘s nothing for you.

 

Tracks (8): 1 - Firestorm Redemption 2 – A Dream Of Armageddon 3 – Failsafe 4 – Fear Itself 5 – Lamentations 6 – None Escape 7 – Sins Of The Father 8 – Ironclad