Armada (Armada - Keep Of Kalessin)

Member Name: Frankingsteins

Product:	Armada - Keep Of Kalessin
Date:	12/08/08 (14 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Strong, creative black metal, without over-reliance on symphonic elements.

Disadvantages: Sometimes, you might fancy something a little simpler.

Keep of Kalessin were away for a few years before exploding back onto the Norwegian black metal scene with their exciting brand of epic war metal. Thebon yells his vocals in a hoarse shout rather than a typical black metal rasp, making his cries to war more emotive, and the musicianship is based more around structural progression and the search for epic lead guitar melodies, as opposed to black metal's traditional focus on repetition and poor production values.

'Armada' is a very strong album, full of long songs that are complex enough to maintain interest over six to seven minutes apiece, without being too progressive to deter casual listeners. While I'm not fond of describing much heavy metal as genuinely 'epic' (only bands like Summoning come close), there are moments on this album where the music almost reaches that higher plain, particularly the warbling guitar harmonies of 'Winged Watcher' and the lengthy acoustic section of 'The Black Uncharted' that adds great atmosphere.

1. Surface
2. Crown of the Kings
3. The Black Uncharted
4. Vengeance Rising
5. Many Are We
6. Winged Watcher
7. Into the Fire
8. Deluge
9. The Wealth of Darkness
10. Armada

Summary: Keep of Kalessin's third album (2006).