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The Project Hate MCMXCIX: Armageddon march eternal (symphonies of slit wrists)

09/09/06 || Statik Majik

“Once again we bring Armageddon…”

There you have it. The very first sentence of the album spits out what this disc is exactly all about. Armageddon in its purest form. This is the best album from 2005, without a fucken doubt. Argue as much as you want, that’s the christ-hating truth you just have to accept.

The very first time I heard the early demo-tunes for this album, I told K that this sounds like the “most death metal” he ever composed for TPH. And I still stand behind those words. The songs in general are a bit more brutal and faster than on any of their prior releases. All the elements I love about The Hate are still here, but a lot of the “weirder” stuff is more “hidden”, more thought out and eloquent. More sophisticated, if you will. I’m sure that composing songs for Lord K’s other band, God Among Insects, influenced him a bit in the composing process for “Armageddon March Eternal”.

But rest assured, this is still 100% The Project Hate that we’re talking about. The jungle-beats, samples, catchy tunes, contrast between growls and beautiful vocals… they’re all here. And the songs (still) easily clock in at over 8 minutes, only exception to the rule being the ending track, “Loveless, godless, flawless”, which is “only” a few seconds short of 6 minutes. And that one is also the slowest track of the album. A policy they’ve obviously found to be good with the last two studio albums prior to this. And what an ending it is… Eerie, beautiful and moody. It’s not quite as sad as “Weep” on the “Hate, Dominate…” album but it’s definitely more effective. And after 7 songs filled with extreme power and hatred, it’s a perfect breather.

“Armageddon March Eternal” is the first album to present their new bassplayer. And that’s none other than Michael Håkansson who’s known for his work with Evergrey, and he sure as hell brings new dimensions to this album. That man is a fucken wizard on bass. I swear to Satan, I never heard someone playing bass like this, I always thought that bass was only for creating basic rhythm and supporting drums but no, Michael actually adds melodies to the songs. Well, as weak as that description might sound, it’s the closest I can come up with. Just listen to the second song, “The bleeding eyes of a breeding whore”, and you’ll understand immediately what I’m trying to explain here.

The guitar-work on “Armageddon March Eternal” is fucken phenomenal as well. Which is one of the trademarks for this band. Massive, catchy, downtuned and heavy as fuck. There’s really not much more I could say about it… Musicwise, this is the best performance from The Hate, simple as that.

The production is the only thing that pales in comparison to the last two studio-albums, but even then it can be considered near perfect. Mieszko Talarczyk (RIP) definitely brought in something magical to the table, but all in all Dan Swanö does a damn good job assisting Lord K as well. Well, why wouldn’t he, he’s a fucken professional. As if TPH would work with any other kinds of people.

Even if the lyrics of TPH’s albums have always followed the same line, for some reason it feels like “Armageddon March Eternal” is the one most straightforward with the scorn towards christianity. No, we’re still not talking about direct “in your face”-kind of approach here, but there’s a noticable change compared to the earlier TPH albums. If you wanna do some research on your own and compare the differences, clickety-click your way to The Hate’s website. That’s right, they have the lyrics for each album there.

A few words about the vocals in general. I never heard Jörgen Sandström sound this brutal or evil during his entire career. I always thought his best vocal performance’s was heard on Grave’s “Soulless” and The Project Hate’s “Hate, Dominate, Congregate, Eliminate” but after I heard this disc, I just had to change my stand. I’m not sure what he did in the studio, but it sure as hell worked like a charm. That guy is on fucken fire here. Really.

And Jonna has improved alot compared to the earlier album as well. She did close to a perfect job for “HDCE” but this, if anything, is the final proof that she fits The Hate like a glove. Not to forget the fact that she has the most beautiful voice I’ve ever had the honour to listen to.

Let me end this review with the following statement: If the sound/production on this album would’ve been the same or even very close to their prior album, I would have given this album a full 10+. And I mean it from the bottom of my blackened heart.

My fave track from this album: each and every one.

9,5 /10.

Information
Released: 2005
Label: Threeman Recordings
Website: www.theprojecthate.net
Band
Lord K Philipson: guitar, programming and keyboards
Petter S. Freed: guitar
Michael Håkansson: bass
Jonna Enckell: vocals
Jörgen Sandström: vocals

Tracklist
01. At the entrance to hell’s unholy fire
02. The bleeding eyes of a breeding whore
03. I see nothing but flesh
04. Resurrected for massive torture
05. We couldn’t be further from the truce
06. Godslaughtering murder machine
07. Symphony of the deceived
08. Loveless, godless, flawless

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