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Arch Enemy - Doomsday Machine review



Reviewer:
9.4

946 users:
8.15
Band: Arch Enemy
Album: Doomsday Machine
Release date: July 2005


Disc I
01. Enter The Machine
02. Taking Back My Soul
03. Nemesis
04. My Apocalypse
05. Carry The Cross
06. I Am Legend/Out For Blood
07. Skeleton Dance
08. Hybrids Of Steel
09. Mechanic God Creation
10. Machtkampf
11. Slaves Of Yesterday
12. Heart Of Darkness [Live in Paris 2004] [Japanese bonus]
13. Bridge Of Destiny [Live in Paris 2004] [Japanese bonus]

Disc II [German limited edition bonus DVD - Live Apocalypse preview]
01. Intro
02. Dead Eyes See No Future [Live in London 2004]
03. Ravenous [Live in London 2004]
+ Nemesis [video clip]

Doomsday Machine marks Arch Enemy's third installment in their new millennium Angela Gossow period. This album certainly has the slickest production of all three Gossow albums. Gossow herself has been produced in order to sound harsher vocally, sometimes bordering on black metal screeching on some songs. Fans of previous Gossow albums will enjoy Doomsday Machine but will be sad as this is the last Arch Enemy album with Christopher Amott on it. Amott left the band in the summer of 2005 in order to continue his studies.

Doomsday Machine simply presents more of the same. Arch Enemy hasn't changed any of the previous ingredients offered up on earlier releases. It's actually quite amazing how they can continue to excel in the death/thrash vein and never stagnate the genre like many bands have. Doomsday Machine sounds almost accessible at times. Songs like We Will Rise, Savage Messiah, and Dead Eyes See No Future from earlier albums also hinted at commercial aspects the band could present. The melodic and almost poppy guitar melodies in the chorus of Nemesis, where Angela's vocals really don't fit to well, could be an example of this on Doomsday Machine. Furthermore, Angela's vocals are very parallel to many compositions on Doomsday Machine; it sounds like she sound sing some lyrics clean instead of growling them.

Arch Enemy is great at breaking songs down into acoustic or clean guitar passages in many of their harsh compositions. This is once again displayed on Doomsday Machine. There are in fact more breakdowns on this album then on any other. Random samples pop in here and there, especially on a track like My Apocalypse where is sounds like a dolphin has been installed into the refrain melody.

Carry The Cross is a great example of hard/soft structure. Here again is another example of how Angela should be clean singing instead of growling. Finally, the highlight of the album is of course I Am Legend/Out for Blood. This is a two part song. The first part consists of instrumental thrash while the second part contains intricate well-designed fast guitar licks combined with Angela's newly produced vocals as the harsh overtone to the mixture.

Doomsday Machine is a very well thought out piece of work. Catchy brutal chord structures are still presented and effectively pounded into the listener's head over and over again. This makes Arch Enemy an indefinite force to be reckoned with. A gifted band, Arch Enemy has completely reinvented the death/thrash genre with their refreshing perspective. This is one of their best albums and with such a firm piece of work like this, many Arch Enemy fans remain impatient to see weather they will put out more of the same or delve into more commercial territory


Rating breakdown
Performance: 10
Songwriting: 10
Originality: 8
Production: 10

Written by Horlequism | 29.06.2006




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.

Guest review by
Savage Messiah
Rating:
9.0
The 2005 release "Doomsday Machine" by Arch Enemy is yet another example of the band's ability to create brilliant melodic death metal, in their own unique way. Stepping further away from their older, original sound, Arch Enemy has created a new album consisting of songs that vary in speed and overall sound. "Doomsday Machine" is a highly entertaining mix of songs ranging from a slow, haunting intro to blistering, bone chilling riffs.

Read more ››
published 12.07.2006 | Comments (6)

Guest review by
VPeter
Rating:
6.1
There seems to be a lot of praise for Doomsday Machine, people think this was the comeback album of Arch Enemy after the lacking Anthems Of Rebellion. I didn't listen to Arch Enemy that often until I found the slipcase version of Doomsday Machine for a low price so I decided to pick it up and see what all the praise is about.

Read more ››
published 06.07.2008 | Comments (9)


Comments

Comments: 17   Visited by: 82 users
29.06.2006 - 13:26
Rating: 8
In_tallica

i kinda agree with you, many people think this album is boring but i think it's the best since wages!
there are some really kick ass song on this album, especially those you mensconed
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29.06.2006 - 13:37
Rating: 7
Metalforos666

it is a really good album
i like it
but not such a good album
you are saying much
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www.myspace.com/metalforos
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29.06.2006 - 14:28
Lucas
Mr. Noise
Good one, but nothing beats Wages Of Sin.
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SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what?

"The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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03.07.2006 - 13:51
Rating: 7
Stigmatized
..........
Good review. Good point on Carry the Cross.
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03.07.2006 - 22:45
Rating: 8
Dangerboner
Lactation Cnslt
I was surprised at how good this cd was when I downloaded it after it first came out. It definitely blows away Anthems of Rebellion.

It's good to hear how inspired the guitar-work is, especially the first track. I fuckin love that intro.
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06.07.2006 - 23:07
Rating: 8
Remus

Written by Dangerboner on 03.07.2006 at 22:45

I was surprised at how good this cd was when I downloaded it after it first came out. It definitely blows away Anthems of Rebellion.


I have to dissagree. In my opinion "Anthems of Rebellion" is way better than "Doomsday machine" and even, dare i say it, "Wages of Sin"! Anyway Daniel says they'll start to record early next year so keep your fingers crossed! Arch Enemy, please adopt me!
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Procrastinate, NOW!
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07.07.2006 - 01:07
Rating: 8
Dangerboner
Lactation Cnslt
Anthems of Rebellion sounds more wannabe mainstream. I can't stand all of the slow choruses on that album. I dunno...I guess it sounds a little tired. It's still good though.
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08.07.2006 - 09:45
MetalSmasher86
Account deleted
Doomsday Machine is an awesome album! Second only to Wages Of Sin in my book. "Machtkampf" is definitely one of their most awesome songs ever!
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21.07.2006 - 17:10
Rating: 8
bangladesh

This album is a good album to get people into metal like Anthems but i think that is the worst of AE. Anthems is very superior because is mutch more consistant. We get bored of it easily, even more than with Anthems.
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22.07.2006 - 23:28
Metalguaska

I agree with most of the review, is a excelent album, with a great intro, and i wanted to see angela's voice in a much higher note, and i didn't feel dissapointed, it's by far the best Arch Enemy (with angela) album, i think that 'My Apocalypse' deserved some apart note, because it's a fuckin' great song...
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Gonorrea Hijueputa Gonorrea Hijueputa Gonorrea Hijueputa Gonorrea Hijueputa Gonorrea Hijueputa Gonorrea Hijueputa Gonorrea Hijueputa Gonorrea Hijueputa Gonorrea Hijueputa Gonorrea Hijueputa Gonorrea Hijueputa Gonorrea Hijueputa Gonorrea Hijueputa Gonorrea
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23.07.2006 - 11:30
dark awakening

That's an album that for me deserves only a low rating, Though the review is good.
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Baptized in a lake of acid tears...
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23.07.2006 - 16:17
iaberis
Advice Troll
Yes, I agree with most of you, it's a good review. To be honest this is my first Arch Enemy album. I've heard of this band before, I've seen it in magazines but only 1-2 months ago I bought this album. Maybe this amazing cover made me buy it and I didn't change my mind about that. Their music is good, but the whole album to me sounds a bit boring, by the perspective that all songs sound the same (same tempo, almost same riffs). The olny songs that caught my attention were, Carry the Cross, Nemesis and Skeleton Dance, all the others sounded the same to me without anything special, althought I have to admit that the intro was very good. My rating is somewhere around 6,5-7
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Bitch! Please
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02.08.2006 - 02:00
Fane

I think this album isnt so good like "Anthems of Rebellion" and "Wages of Sin". But good album after all. It has many good songs on like Machtkampf, Nemesis, Skeleton dance and Slaves of Yesterday.
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Coffee for power
Music for creativity
Sarcasm for fun
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20.01.2007 - 05:04
vull

who found a bad song on this album? listen some more of it! it's darn good album - all the songs have something unique in them. to sort some songs out, i like Nemesis with it's fast speed and it's agressive message. next good one is I Am Legend/Out For Blood - it's starting is already awesome - just awesome instruments only... and then the vocals... just too cool! I'd say something about every song, but i don't have the patience to write it all down...
anyway, i'm already waiting for the new album and hope that it will be similar to the tunes on doomsday machine. i just love the guitars on it :> and the higher tone vocals fit in perfectly! i've heard some older songs from AE, cant really recall the song names, but some of them had lower-tone vocals only and they didn't sound half as good as these on doomsday machine...
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' v '
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22.01.2007 - 22:15
Rating: 6
Sunioj

Written by Dangerboner on 03.07.2006 at 22:45

I was surprised at how good this cd was when I downloaded it after it first came out. It definitely blows away Anthems of Rebellion.

It's good to hear how inspired the guitar-work is, especially the first track. I fuckin love that intro.


Thank you, I totally agree, IMO anthems is the weakest link to Arch Enemy, hopefully the next album will be another Wages of Sin!
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24.01.2007 - 02:14
Rating: 6
Doc G.
Full Grown Hoser
decent album, not great though. the drum intro to 'machtkampf' is brilliant.
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"I got a lot of really good ideas, problem is, most of them suck."
- George Carlin
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18.12.2009 - 08:55
Uirapuru
Liver Failure
Wow.. that's too much. Pétur's review seemed more accurate to my opinion.
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member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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