All the way from Sweden, the hell raising Arch Enemy is back with a new melodic death album entitled "Khaos Legions." The album is full of rebellious lyrics surrounded by distorted guitars and earth shaking drum fills. The band wrote and recorded the entire album without any help engineering the audio. Rickard Bengtsson was the only person outside of the band who helped produce the album. He is known for his work with Arch Enemy's 2005 album "Doomsday Machine." The sound quality of the recordings have come out amazing as it is clear and full of power all around.
The album kicks off with a short instrumental introduction entitled "Khaos Overture." After fading out, "Yesterday Is Dead And Gone" jumps right in with screaming alarm sound effects and rapid guitar riffs. The chorus is a memorable one, as catchy melodic riffs consume you. The drumming is full of constant kick-snare patterns and jump in and out of fast double bass pedaling. As far as the vocals go, they are down right destructive! Don't be surprised when the innocent lead vocalist tears you a new one. Angela Gossow has proven time and time again that you don't need balls to growl your head off on a mic in front of thousands of fans.
For those of you who are not familiar with her, she is considered a veteran when it comes to the art of growling. She has been known to put a lot of male growlers to shame with her vicious vocals. "Bloodstained Cross" and "Cruelty Without Beauty" are two perfect examples from the album where she really goes over the top with vocals that sound like they came from the devil himself. She is of course, accompanied by many wicked solos and constant heavy guitar riffs. The drumming is filled with double bass action and fist pumping bass lines.
"No Gods, No Masters" will have you bobbing your head with its catchy melodic riffs and powerfully delivered vocals with inspiring lyrics. The drumming during the bridge is absolutely stunning, as Daniel Erlandsson destroys low frequencies with monstrous kicks. "Through The Eyes Of A Raven" also has bone crushing drums and high flying cymbals that echo brightly throughout the song. Heavy layered guitars chug away with wicked speed and dominating distortion. The vocals give it the perfect touch for the demonic tone we all love to hear.
Things slow down for a brief second with "Turn To Dust," which is really just an instrumental build up to the following track, "Vengeance Is Mine." Screaming guitars immediately enter, pulling you into the dark abyss of scale ripping solos and fierce drum fills. This is definitely a song you are going to want to thrash your head to. The constant wave of guitar notes will completely consume you throughout the track.
The Amott brothers have done an excellent job with the detail and structure of the guitar work in the album. "Khaos Legions" is nothing short of overwhelming guitar riffs filled with catchy melodies layered with quick drums and heavy lyrics. Also if you manage to buy the Japanese released version, there are two bonus tracks on it. One is "The Zoo," which is a Scorpions cover, and the other is an acoustic version of the song "Snow Bound." Clearly Arch Enemy has proven, once again, why they are one of the most impressive death metal bands in the world. They definitely deserve a listen!
9/10
Official Site - http://www.archenemy.net/
Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/archenemy
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