Origin:	Sweden
Genres:	Melodic Death Metal

Last update/review:	February 13, 2015

Armageddon

Armageddon is a band led by Christopher Amott, once in Arch Enemy and brother of fellow AE guitarist Michael Amott. At the time of Armageddon's debut album (Crossing The Rubicon) in 1997, Amott was playing in both bands concurrently, and soon after its release he announced that he couldn't devote time to both groups, deciding to focus on AE and put this band to bed. But three years later, and two years after that, new albums appeared, curiously released in Japan only, with varying lineups surrounding Amott. He continued playing with Arch Enemy until 2012, when he left the band for good and restarted Armageddon. A fourth album was released in January 2015.

Style-wise, Armageddon has gone through some changes in its short career. Rubicon has clear early Arch Enemy similarities (possibly due in part to brother Mike, who guests on the album), perhaps a shade more towards modern thrash and less towards death metal. The middle album, Embrace The Mystery, is not reviewed here, but the most recent album, Three, sounds absolutely nothing like Rubicon, instead opting for an upbeat, almost hard rock feel, mixed with the standard European power metal style of these times, with Amott capably taking on lead vocal chores for the first time in the band's career. It's a well-done album, though certainly a bit of a surprise to older fans of the band.