Search - Hearse :: Armageddon Mon Amour

Mon Amour

Inferno Silver | Maryland, USA | 09/03/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Johan Liiva, the former lungs behind Arch Enemy, has returned with Hearse and what a glorious return it is. Blending together melodic death and thrash elements, "Armageddon, Mon Amour" is a magnificent journey through fury, power and substance. Unlike some other albums offered recently by Swedish melodic death metal bands (or any group influenced by the style), every single track on this album is distinct and truly unique. The song-writing is excellent throughout and every musician in the band is truly skilled at what they do. I dare to say this probably even surpasses a lot of Liiva's older Arch Enemy work. Perhaps best of all, this album just doesn't get old. It sounds fresh and new every single time I turn on my stereo. If you miss the older sound of In Flames, Soilwork and Arch Enemy, you will find a lot to love about Hearse. Fans of The Haunted, At the Gates, Edge of Sanity, Entombed and Carcass, as well as newer offerings from bands like Arsis, Anata, Kataklysm and Necrophagist should also give "Armageddon, Mon Amour" a listen."

Great album...Innovative and original metal from Sweden.

Pablosa | Buenos Aires, Capital Federal Argentina | 03/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Hearse" is the new band of former Arch Enemy and Nonexist singer Johan Liiva. I love his voice. He manages to sound gutural, without forcing his voice like NDeath's Barney Greenway. But the band not only stands out for Liiva's performance. "Armageddon mon amour" is different from all the swedish metal albums you might have heard before. They took the old school death metal, headed by bands like Entombed, Carnage or Dismember, and shaped it in their own way, creating something new, very original, combining it with a big sense of humour and originality. What is really hard to find nowadays.



The album sounds very heavy, and reminds me, like said before, the old Dismember and Entombed, with that rusty, but not less heavy sound. However, the band delivers an album filled with cool harmonies, melodic and epic solos, and the nicest and, at the same time, the craziest arrangements, in extreme and fast songs, and mid tempos as well, sandwiching great arrangements in between. The songs are catchy, but I don't mean it in a bad way. If the songs are catchy, is due to the brilliant songwriting; and they're all different between each other.



Personally, I believe that Arch Enemy made a terrible mistake letting Johan Liiva leave the band. And he shows he's a killer singer, lightyears away from Angela Gossow.



If you like well done and original heavy metal, you should get this album. You won't regret."