Ares Kingdom – Incendiary (Nuclear War Now! Productions 2010)
I don’t really recall when I got into ARES KINGDOM. I have been a huge fan of ORDER FROM CHAOS since I first laid ears upon them many many years ago. The mighty Chuck Keller knows his way around obscure and thrashy riffing that latches on, and stays in the head long after the last chord has died. I was along the line also caught in the web of VULPECULA, and really miss the madness and mysticism that band possessed. Mike Miller was controlling the backbone in ORDER FROM CHAOS very straight on, a bit sloppy at times, though it shows that, that is his style, to make it sound a tad sloppy, but still powerful and to the point, you sometimes think he’ll lose the beat, but it never happens. I’m pretty sure ARES KINGDOM was my first encounter with Alex Blume, the harsh and intense growler, always making the eerie and sinister output sounding just a bit more evil, he later on roamed in BLASPHEMIC CRUELTY together with another hero of mine Gene Palubicki, mostly know from the mighty ANGEL CORPSE, a band that also derived of ORDER FROM CHAOS, showcasing Pete Helmkamp. And last but not least, when speaking of ARES KINGDOM, Doug Overby who have been handling the rhythm guitars from the very beginning of the band, and he does that quite well, as the rhythm is the driving force of this monster of a thrashy Death Metal band.
I was approached up to the release of “Incendiary” back in 2010, when it was about to be released I reckon, and of course I would like to do a review etc. with one of the bands that I adored. Then entered writer’s block, work, girl trouble and all that continued way too long, I even got tired of the Metal scene and all that roamed in it along the way, and didn’t listen to much Metal for a good while, except the sporadic review for Voices From The Dark Side.
I have begun to love Metal again, the scene somewhat, I am taking that in small bites. The cure for writers block is loud music, beer and icecold cheap whiskey, the women, well, don’t get me started on that one. Work still takes too much time, though I’m taking time to listen and tell the world about good music anyways, that is how it should be, and that is why I have dusted off this old piece of Death Metal, because it is still damned good today, and a perfect treat to accompany beer and icecold cheap whiskey.
Classic thrashy Death Metal riffs delivered at a steady not too fast pace, to an almost doomy pummeling, driving all in its way deep down in the ground, solid base rhythms, topped with the catchy guitarriffs and leads, and an aggressive bass. The vocals from Blume, a snarled and angry growl, frustrated and evil, pure grimness, that fits the sinister world of the band perfectly.
The production is nice dusty and old school, organic and gives the instruments their needed space to act with full force, the stretched riffing, nice airy drum sound and the guitar leads that fill the sound picture when they hit it off with brilliancy. A production fitting the overall arcane and dark, slight mysterious, atmosphere that surrounds this album, and the music of the band generally.
I guess you already have this album in your collection, if not, what the fuck is wrong with you man? I thought you said you liked Death Metal?
And soon to be released should be ARES KINGDOM’s newest output “VENERATION”, a tribute album to the roots of the band, together with a new version of ‘Celestial’ from the VULPECULA days and a version of ‘Oblivion’ from NEPENTHE where Blume roamed before ARES KINGDOM was formed. I am especially looking forward to listening to those 2, but well, also the rest of the album, and even more to new material, whenever that unearths.
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