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An energy centralized Metal assault that loses steam near the end.-
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| Re-Armed: Worldwide Hypnotize |
Melodic Death Metal
Massacre Records
January 27th, 2012
- Natural Backlash - 3:39
- Save Yourself - 3:18
- Feardrops - 3:41
- Hoax - 3:45
- Worldwide Hypnotize - 3:24
- Deathtrap - 4:10
- The Bridge that Leads Nowhere - 3:31
- King Authority (Honour to Serve) - 3:54
- Trance - 4:11
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| Review Information |
Release length: 33:30
Review posted on January 19th, 2012
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| | Overall Score: 8.5/10 |
 
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
Worldwide Hypnotize (2012)
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| Demo(s): |
Life That Seems to be Lost... (2002) • The Eyes that Have seen Everything (2004) • Illusion of Katharsis (2006) • Hollow Inc. (2007)
Feardrops (2007) • Stop This Evolution (2008)
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| Review |
Re-Armed formed back in 2001 in Kerava, Finland. Since then, the band has issued an astounding six demos, encompassing their discography for the first seven years of the group's career. A few members have come and gone since forming, but with all that additional time with their demo recordings, one can't help but think that perhaps the band is growing a lot from a rather rough start, or Re-Armed just flat-out sucks to not get picked up by any label at this point. Whatever the reason, it's 2012 at the time of this review, and the group's debut album, Worldwide Hypnotize, has found a home through Massacre Records, and it clearly shows that this is a band that obviously doesn't suck, so perhaps all the demo time worked in their favor.
Worldwide Hypnotize is, simply put, heavy. The audio here is perfect for the Melodic Death Metal genre. It's not too clean that it sterilized the bite that the music has, but at the same time gives a crisp enough quality that everything is sharp enough to be heard and hammer away at the listener the moment it explodes to life on "Natural Backlash." The drumming takes a commanding center stage here with its nice audio levels through the whole kit. The cymbals are always executed well with a sound quality that doesn't make them drown anything out but still feel vital in filling the music, making you immediately want to head bang along to the beat the tightly tuned snares and louder click of the bass kicks give off amid the high energy performance of the drummer and the other members of the band. The guitars have a slightly blunt distortion to them, though largely having a mid-range sharpness to them that really can be felt, especially with the backing skull crushing bluntness of the bass guitar that can be heard and felt dominantly in the mix. This causes the entire album to kind of walk the line between the pitch and tone qualities, finding itself somewhere in the middle, and it's right where the band should be for their aggressive, abrasive approach that feels as if the music is tightly wound and about ready to snap, which metaphorically does happen thanks to the intensity and energy the group bring with them. The varying range of the vocals, and the energy it brings in, manages to feed nicely off this and suit the music well with whatever style is incorporated, though largely it's a rhaspy approach with some additional screaming amid additional guttural moments that are blended in.
As mentioned, "Natural Backlash" simply explodes to life the second the album starts, cementing a good idea of what to expect. Some of the bass kicks can sound a slightly off-beat, but as you go through the release you'll learn it's meant to be that way, and it does grow on your rather quickly when you realize how it's used in context, and actually how little it winds up being used. The tempo here varies between a slower pace and a faster one, bringing a commanding Sepultura quality to the music thanks to the backing groove and somewhat primal sound of the song without the matching drumming signature to that obvious influence. But this song is far from just a carbon-copy track, as the more melodic elements really give it a more unique sound, especially when the guttural vocals do kick in during certain sections, and even when they don't on some bridges. The enthusiasm is simply undeniable here, and the catchy, hook driven rhythm of the music is so infection that the second this album starts, let along just this song, you'll find yourself banging your head along hard enough that you will need to beware of your surroundings as not to knock yourself out. This atmosphere, sound, and all around energetic performance continues right along and never loosens the strangling grip around your throat as the album just keeps hammering away at you.
But while "Natural Backlash" is a song that has the potential of physical harm due to whats around the listener, "Save Yourself" is a song that simply will cause pain. The aggression found in this song, coupled with its faster pace and immensely heavy chorus will find you head banging along hard enough to give yourself whiplash multiple times over with its commanding authority. You'll even let out a sigh of relief when it ends and goes into a brief morse code beeping to close out the track, giving you a moment to rest before "Feardrops" starts in. This track is far from what the last two songs brought to the table, and ultimately offers up the other end of the spectrum. While the drumming continues to pound away at the listener at machine gun pace with the kicks, the rest of the song is geared towards a slower and mid-tempo approach, focusing more on catchier hooks and simpler music for the most part. It's a welcome track placement that doesn't do away with the commanding sound that has enveloped the listener for the past near nine minutes, but it still makes for an infectious track you won't soon be looking to skip.
At that point, the intensity and speed varies greatly with some slower melodic bits. Nothing really tries to tighten that grip around you neck as much as "Natural Backlash" or "Save Yourself" did, but that's not to say the grip is enough for you to want to escape it. Many of the tracks that follow are still catchy and almost never make you want to stop head banging along. Sure "Hoax" isn't one of the unique offerings, but its hook-driven melodies are backed by enough aggression that you simply won't turn away from the song. This is also a track that comes off more like it was developed to be mosh pit fuel more than anything else thanks to the tension it manages to create throughout. This is about where the album does start to trail of a bit, though far from becomes a bad conclusion. Aside the heavier title track "Worldwide Hypnotize," much of the closing to this release is slowed down greatly and takes on a more abrasive, yet traditional Melodic Death Metal turn.
Really the only song towards the end that seems to drop the ball a bit here is "Deathtrip." This is largely due to the song being a little less unique, and just overall slows down the pace a bit too much to the point where it gets bland rather quickly about half way through. The slower passages and guitar solo that kick in don't quite fit into the foundation that the track is built around, and out of nowhere really seems to try to give off a dark and somewhat emotional feel. It's not bad, but anyone who has heard anything that Arch Enemy has put out lately will hear some riffs that sound a little too close to source material to make it a section simply inspired by the band. The closing of the track doesn't really go anywhere either, and just ends up feeling a little more on the generic side. "Trance" does kick things back up a bit, picking up that intensity again though a bit too late for its own good sadly, but again it does still come off an enjoyable track with a good mixture of melody and aggression.
While the end of Worldwide Hypnotize isn't really the most awe-inspiring, it does lead to the only genuinely unimpressive track of the album. The dismal tone these songs give off doesn't quite compare to the ruthless aggression that kick starts the release, which is rather saddening since it's clear that it's what the band does best. Re-Armed are still a force to be reckoned with though, and the majority of tracks that are good here really have the potential to kick the listener square in the ass. But even at its lowest, not counting "Deathtrap" sadly, Worldwide Hypnotize still becomes an album you are going to bang your head along to each from start to end. My head was pounding and my neck was sore from how much I was pounding my head against the air to so many of the tracks here, and that is easily the most impressive aspect of this album. It may taper off towards the end, but it's about time Re-Armed put out their debut full-length release, and that is something any fan of Melodic Death Metal will say upon hearing this release.
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Digital review copy of this release provided by:
Massacre Records. |
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