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Ares Kingdom is a band that has been around since 1996 and includes two ex-members of the cult black metal band Order From Chaos. This is their second full-length.
First thing to say about this album – this is exactly what I like to hear when I'm in the mood for extremely heavy music! Playing heavily thrash influenced death metal with the odd sprinkle of the black stuff is what Ares Kingdom do and they do it well indeed.
The guitars are perfectly distorted. They sound chunky and heavy without sounding dull. The riffs are generally chugging monsters akin to the rumbling engine of an M1 Abrams tank. The speed of the riffs varies but all have that same undeniable aura that makes you want to bang your head until your eyeballs fall from their sockets. Additionally there are a lot of great solos throughout the album, showing that Ares Kingdom are capable of clinical strikes as well as full blown artillery bombardments!
The drumming too is fantastic, providing the heavy machine gun fire of top notch kick drumming to add extra power to the twin guitar assault. The bass is like the sappers who dig underneath the main battle line. Sure, you can't always tell it there, but its influence when you notice it is undeniable!
Lyrically the band sing about philosophy, history and war (see, there is a point to all those war metaphors!) and Alex Blume lends his deep, well-rounded growl to these litanies of destruction.
In conclusion, if you want to hear one of the best and most criminally overlooked death metal bands around today then get this album. Its insanely good!
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