I have been a fan of this band for a long time and admittedly buy every piece of merchandise that these guys release to the point of excess! Ares Kingdom provides a forceful thrash and death metal attack greater than any blitzkrieg by any armed force.
‘Descent of Man’, at over 7 minutes is very much an epic metal assault. There are a few rough metal influences; recent US death metal is always harder edged than our EU brothers and sisters and this band are more for bullet belt wearing fans with a passion for raw deadly thrash metal. I think “kvlt” is the word; this band should have a massive following. ‘Incendiary’ shows a great band moving forward and producing more well crafted arrangements. Whilst holding true to their thrash/death roots, Ares Kingdom have introduced a melodic element, in terms of creating more atmosphere amongst the heavy as hell chaos. The guitar work is much more in your face; there are riffs all over the record and solos in abundance such as on ‘Abandon in Place’ which sticks out in my mind for one of these totalising, exhausting listens. I mean that in a good way of course, there is so much good music happening it’s somewhat of a come-down when each track finishes. Vocally, the levels are just perfect. Too many extreme thrash and death bands lose the vocals in the mix or become so high pitched screaming it is a painful experience. Over the course of the various Ares Kingdom releases, the band have always kept this in mind and this latest offering, but as I mentioned, a subtle use of melody and honing of the guitar sound just gives the album a great sense of quality. I don’t feel there is a need to try to mind “big” words or witty phrases to describe this album any further, the music will speak on my behalf.
‘Incendiary’ may very well be Ares Kingdom’s greatest offering to date. If you like really good bands and I mean good bands; you have to buy this one! Ares Kingdom does not disappoint and spout a relentless tirade of pure heavy thrash and death metal.
http://www.ares-kingdom.com/
http://www.myspace.com/areskingdom
http://www.nwnprod.com/
