ALBUM REVIEW: Ignis Aeternum – Re-Armed

RE-ARMED‘s fourth full-length album continues to refine their melodic and symphonic qualities, eschewing the brutality often associated with death metal with more emphasis on clean vocals, and arguably shares more with film soundtracks and classical music than it does with someone like THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER. However this is not to say that they have abandoned death metal entirely, rather Jouni Matilainen’s harsh vocals are instead used more sparingly, and utilised for maximum effect rather than as a continuous onslaught.

Gang vocals are used extensively throughout this record, but none more prominently than on Ode To Life. Whilst perhaps there is an over-reliance on group singing, the transition from the multiple voices into Matilainen’s scream at the climax of the track is striking, and demonstrates how well this band have melded death metal with some of its more melodic counterparts – indeed RE-ARMED have created their own name for their sound.

Comparisons could certainly be made with DIMMU BORGIR and perhaps even with CRADLE OF FILTH, albeit only partly, as whilst Matilainen does make use of harsher vocals, they are not as brutal as Dani Filth’s, nor do the band focus as much on brutality, instead melody is RE-ARMED’s main focus throughout this record, and they do succeed in creating a record that is symphonic and full of heightened melody. Some of this record could have come straight from John Williams or Hans Zimmer’s playbook, and would fit on film soundtracks.

The Finns have been around since 2001, and yet this is only their fourth full length in that time period. Whilst a scarcity of releases in almost two decades could suggest a few creative blocks and internal turmoil in this time, it is also clear that the band have taken their time to produce quality over quantity. It would be impossible to dismiss Ignis Aeternum as a band just putting out an album for the sake of it, and the clear amount of work that has gone into it demonstrates how hard the band work. There are layers upon layers of music, some more justified whilst others do feel placed in for complexities sake.

However it does feel like if they had worked on more music, perhaps released a few more records in the past then they would have taken more risks on this album, rather than sticking to a good, but formulaic style, that unfortunately doesn’t necessarily put them in the same category as those bands they could potentially be compared to. The use of piano and some orchestral instruments do help this stand on its own, however it simply just isn’t quite as innovative as their contemporaries. Whilst they do focus on quality over quantity, this dearth of releases has also meant less time honing their craft and building the signature RE-ARMED sound, and as a result this album doesn’t quite flow, nor does it stand on its own – certainly not enough for them to create their own genre.

Overall, Ignis Aeternum is a decent album, and it truly is a good melodic death metal album, however it doesn’t create its own brand of ‘Gothenburg metal,’ and is not a game changer like many of their contemporaries. If RE-ARMED focus more on honing their sound and release their next record sooner than half a decade away then there is real potential, however at the moment it falls just short of innovative, and instead lands squarely in the formulaic category,

Rating: 6/10

Ignis Aeternum is out now via Black Lion Records.

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