ARTHEMIS - review added 10th March 2009
Album Review: Black Society (2009)
For fans of: power metal... and bands that deserve more fame
Italian heaver rockers Arthemis have been around since the mid 1990's and already have four full-length albums under their belts. Black Society, their fifth release, is actually the first I've crossed paths with. Shame it took so look. This is good stuff!
Alessio Garavello (vocals/guitars), Andrea Martongelli (guitars/backing vocals), Paolo Perazzani (drums/backing Vocals) and Matteo Galbier (bass/backing vocals) have generated a speedy, powerful sounding album full of memorable riffs and bone crunching choruses... but with plenty of emotion and sweet vocalizations.
The sound is approachable, modern and chart friendly with an unashamedly retro thrash vibe stirred into the rhythms. Imagine Megadeth, Annihilator and Savage Garden having an accident in a teleportation machine. The band that came out the other end would sound just like this.
'Freight Train' gets Black Society off to a cracking start. The main hook is speedy and refreshingly simple, the pinched harmonic moments give it oodles of character. The best part though is the aggressively heavy interlude in the middle. The contrast to the rest of the song is startling, and brilliant.
'Angels In Black' is almost a ballad. The song has a boisterous edge and a memorable funk nature to the chorus. It's a love song with an evil grin covered in spikes and stinging nettles, and we love it. The title track is, well, epic. It isn't necessarily the best, most memorable song on the album, but it's brilliantly menacing and unbelievably loud! If the song had a video, it would be of buildings crumbling, mountainsides exploding and the decimation of small asteroids. The complex prog arrangements in the track seem almost unimportant, such is the ferocity of the performance.
'Zombie Eater' is so groovy yet grinding it's as schizophrenic as the three of me. It's a fantastic track and undoubtedly the best on the album. The guitars sound gnarly yet outstanding, and when the double kick drums launch into the attack at the end... oh my! 'Mr. Evil', a fast paced action hero of a song, finishes the album in fine style.
On this evidence Arthemis are another of those bands whose back catalogue I'll be delving into. This is a civil-disturbance of an album. It gets the adrenaline pumping like a pit-bull with a chainsaw, yet it's as approachable and well mannered as a fluffy cat wearing oversized mittens.
Black Society? The title may be gloomy; the music is anything but!
Check out... The double kick drums at the end of 'Zombie Eater'.
Track List:
1. Freight Train
2. Angels in Black
3. Electri-Fire
4. Medal of Honour
5. Escape
6. Black Society
7. Mechanical Plague
8. Let It Roll
9. Zombie Eater
10. Mr. Evil
Label: Scarlet Records
Artist's websites: Arthemis , MySpace
