Slowmotion Apocalypse - My Own Private Armageddon
Slowmotion Apocalypse is Italy's answer to the fertile crop of At The Gates melodeath bands that have sprouted
likes weeds in recent years. While this debut effort definitely relies heavily on the Gothenburg style of melodic riffing there's also a nice thrash metal influence somewhat similar to Callenish Circle, simple and straightforward but very effective.
This simplicity does come back to bite them though. As there are quite a few really talented bands out there playing this style, like Light This City, you need to make sure there's something unique to set you apart from the crowd. While the musicianship here is solid and well executed there's not a whole lot of distinctive material here to really make your ears perk up. It would help if the guitars occasionally strayed from the beaten melodeath path and added some more imaginative riffs/pacing or the drummer added more accents that make bands like Nightrage and Darkane such genre standouts. Instead we're treated to very well played but somewhat generic Swedish metal tinged with some thrash elements.
I think there's definitely room for a band like Slowmotion Apocalypse, a back to basics, solid fundamentals without a lot of flash type of band but their appeal is probably going to be limited to people like me that really enjoy this style and can look past some slightly stale riffing in favor of solid execution and above average talent. Of course if you don't already own some of the bands mentioned above they would be a better place to start.
This simplicity does come back to bite them though. As there are quite a few really talented bands out there playing this style, like Light This City, you need to make sure there's something unique to set you apart from the crowd. While the musicianship here is solid and well executed there's not a whole lot of distinctive material here to really make your ears perk up. It would help if the guitars occasionally strayed from the beaten melodeath path and added some more imaginative riffs/pacing or the drummer added more accents that make bands like Nightrage and Darkane such genre standouts. Instead we're treated to very well played but somewhat generic Swedish metal tinged with some thrash elements.
I think there's definitely room for a band like Slowmotion Apocalypse, a back to basics, solid fundamentals without a lot of flash type of band but their appeal is probably going to be limited to people like me that really enjoy this style and can look past some slightly stale riffing in favor of solid execution and above average talent. Of course if you don't already own some of the bands mentioned above they would be a better place to start.
