From sadness, comes inspiration. From grief, comes beauty. Through sorrow, there lies strength. An album touched by tragedy, and gripped with the truest emotion fathomable, Sweden’s The Project Hate release the new ‘Armageddon March Eternal’, a possible Album Of The Year contender right out of the 2006 gate. This album was originally intended to be produced by Nasum’s late-Mieszko Talarczyk, but as a result of his tragic passing a little over a year ago, Dan Swano has stepped in to help the band complete it’s vision. Additionally, Lord K. gives the reins of the four-string beast to Evergrey’s immensely talented Michael Hakansson for the recording, and have since made him a full-time member of the band.

Quite possibly the most heart-rending album since November Doom’s massive ‘The Pale Haunt Departure’ from last year, it is stated that each and every word sung, and note played on ‘Armageddon…’ is dedicated to the spirit their beloved mentor, Mieszko. It literally chokes me up to type this, here and now while listening to it playing. The result of the unfortunate events, and the slight lineup shift, is a piece of work so driven and so determined, it verges on being overworked, and overly-ambitious.

You can’t help but feel the hearts of each musician putting everything they have into their performances, to call this death metal-meets-darkwave only scratches the surface of what there is to behold on this magnificent release. Mid-paced, rhythmically driven and meticulously orchestrated, each song is dynamically constructed with many different time, vocal, and instrumental changes abound. The riffing style is similar to that of Strapping Young Lad, and occasionally Fear Factory. In fact, I believe a sample contained in the second song of this album also appears somewhere in a Fear Factory tune. Regardless, the music here is very heavy, remains in a constant state of motion during the many peaks and valleys encountered, and relies on it’s own inner strength to propel it along instead of falling back on too many bells & whistles for added emphasis. Natural is the way to go.

The soulful vocals bring so much feeling and muscle to the table, you can sort of picture Jorgen Sandstrom in the studio, eyes closed, bellowing into the mic’ with smoldering passion, forcing himself to perform to the best of his ability. It feels like you can reach out and take hold of his pain as it floats powerfully from the speakers at times (’Godslaughtering Murder Machine’), and likewise the band’s lady deathstrike Jonna Enckell weaves wraithlike and haunting through both softer, sparse passages, and rampaging rhythms. She is as angelic as she is sorrowful, like a bird who’s lost her way in a storm, seeking shelter or solace from the tempest.

Throughout all the sadness, all the emotive venting, lies one hell of an intense and brooding death metal album that must be reckoned with. But experimentation has never been a qualm of The Project Hate, as the closing track ‘Loveless, Godless, Flawless’ flirts with decidedly non-metal drum beats, and the lead-off track ‘At The Entrance To Hell’s Unholy Embrace’ also deftly plants urban rhythm in limited amounts into the riveting structures. My head swims from many of the elaborate formations the songs undertake, which is also where the album cracks.

It’s almost too heavy. Restraint didn’t seem to be much of an option, as ‘Armageddon…’ straddles the line between being just enough, and being too much at once. So broad in scope, special individual moments get lost along the way. There’s just a LOT to take in during one sitting, but somehow, the vast length appears to be necessary to fully portray this work of art properly. So, in that regard, perhaps the band over-thought itself a little bit. It’s 66 minutes of pure emotional and physical wear and tear, both touching and irresistible, as well as taxing.

I could go on and on about this album. If it catches you in the right frame of mind, you’ll be swept up in it, which is really the only way to go while listening to this. Not only do I recommend this, I’d say it’s essential buying for this month. If there is one CD above all others to pick up this month as part of your metal haul, it’s ‘Armageddon March Eternal’. This makes ‘Ghost Reveries’ sound like an Evanescence album, and speaking of which, Amy Lee sounds like Bob Dylan compared to Jo’. If you pass up buying this should the opportunity present itself? Just stop visiting this site. We don’t need the hits that bad.

This entry was posted by Dekompoze on Thursday, 26th January, 2006 at 0:08 and is filed under Reviews, The Project Hate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response below. You may view a   printable version of this page. You may download this page in   PDF format.