Armed for Apocalypse - Defeat

Comprising former members of Will Haven and The Indomitable Iron Sloth, California’s Armed for Apocalypse is a tough act to pigeonhole. Not because the band’s debut recording ‘Defeat’ has an indescribable and genre-defying sound, but mostly due to the fact it peddles various styles and textures throughout the course of 38 minutes.
See, while album opener ‘We Fell From The Bottom’ delves into a cataclysmic and ugly frenzy of brutal riffs, pounding percussion and caveman bellows in a style not too far removed from what is widely regarded as deathcore, the following track ‘The Demon Who Makes Trophies of Men’ sways between a crawling moribund pace and bursts of thrash-chugging. Then, there are times where they also seem to throw out some latter-era Sepultura riffs as heard on ‘Fists of God’, and following that comes the raw fury ‘The Failure’ which has d-beat ring to it. As if Discharge were jamming with Andreas Kisser on guitar. However, for the most part of ‘Defeat’ the four-piece stomps off into a slow sludge pummel where comparisons to Crowbar could easily be mooted. ‘Hero Complex’, ‘Torchlight Search For The Dead’ and ‘A Collapse’ sees Armed for Apocalypse ably engage in a menacing display of heavy and sludgy riffs always with the attitude of someone who woke up on the wrong side of bed.
Amazingly, ‘Defeat’ sounds vastly more cohesive and engaging than this ill-sorted assortment of words since Armed for Apocalypse have created a rather good debut record that gives indication of a promising future. (7/10)

David Alexandre

Band info: www.myspace.com/armedforapocalypsesludge
Label info: www.siegeofamida.net