Re-Armed
Worldwide Hypnotize

Finnish band Re-Armed are releasing their debut album, or rather they have already released it and that is around eleven years after its inception, after six demo records it seems that it was finally time for this band to release their debut album. It seems to be one hypnotic album, the cover art is actually both thought provoking and interesting while the logo looks extremely uninteresting and boring to be honest. So what to expect from these finns who are soon to go on tour opening for Chimaira during their Age of Hell tour, that has to be said to be something of a vote of confidence for these finns I suppose. So with six critically acclaimed demos (according to the press info) I suppose one can expect a lot from the debut, I mean the band has been around since 2001 so they have to have some experience in making music already. So is it some hypnotic piece of work that we are exposed to with this album? Or is it something else?

According to the press information it is death metal with thrash metal parts as well as some grindcore touches. Energetic and aggressive it can be said to be, with some melodic touches as well being apparently influenced by the Gothenburg style of the death metal genre. No fancy rides or adventures in the music, it is simplistic in style and through the nine tracks and 33 minutes of music we do not see that much variation it is mostly aggressive, slightly melodic and to the point. In a way it is a rather typical style of aggressive melodic extreme metal, so you could say that there isn’t much that feels really fresh and unique coming out of this debut, the production is adequate and good enough as well as quite typical and so is the style and sound.

Let me start by saying that I am not that deeply interested in this kind of music, I do like some melodic extreme metal, or quite a bit if I am honest but I am not a fan of the genre in general. Then let me say that I have a few issues with this album, first of all it has nothing to make it stand out from the crowds which sure isn’t something that is really necessary but the melodic extreme metal is getting really cramped so you really have to stand out to be noticed. Then it suffers a bit from similitude, the variation on a rather narrow theme isn’t the most interesting either. The album feels like it is just being aggressive and energetic, without any real thought behind. Although I am sure that there is some kind of thought behind it and that I just cannot see it.

Sure all is not as negative as I might make up in the prior paragraph, it is nothing wrong with it really, it is just that the album does nothing for me. It is well made with lots of energy and aggression, power and simplicity so if you enjoy that kind of thing I am sure this album will please you. I have seen some quite positive reviews about this album, one reviewer even gave it a nine out of ten which is a brilliant rating, I do not agree with such a rating but then again I am not really a hardcore fan of the genre so what do I know? Well, I have heard a lot of music both from the genre and other things so a little experience I have.

In the end I think this is an album you like if you are sold on the genre, if you are not I believe you will deem it being too much like everything else and without any real hit it becomes just another album amongst all the others, and that just isn’t something that appeals to me.