Review by Nick on June 21, 2008.

With a string of inferior to mediocre releases -- Skeleton Skeletron, Judas Christ and Prey -- most have come to consider Tiamat a decomposing shell of its former self. Demonstrated by the lack of originality and breadth on their previous three albums, Johan Edlund and his gloomsters seem to have creatively withered faster than a slug in a mound of salt. A long time has passed since the masterful Wildhoney and the brilliantly crafted A Deeper Kind Of Slumber, so please forgive me for the skepticism that precedes 2008’s Amanethes.

The opener, "The Temple of the Crescent Moon,” comes across as hollow and desperate, lacking the confidence and quiet patience that permeated songs from the previously mentioned albums. The melody is generic and sounds almost synthetic. In addition, the lyrics are benign and stale. What might have worked, both musically and lyrically, ten years ago, ends up falling short in 2008.

There is a familiar black metal tinge to the beginning of “Equinox of the Gods,” recalling similarities from Sumerian Cry and Astral Sleep, with rolling, rapid guitar melodies interweaved with penetrating bass thumps and blasting drums. I expected the song to melt into an uninspired doom rock song, ala Prey, but it retained the frenzied pace throughout. “Equinox” ends as a surprising recent Tiamat entry and an above average metal song.

The bleak mood constructed by “Equinox of the Gods” becomes even more sullen for the lackadaisical “Until the Hellhounds Sleep Again.” The track comes across as a failed attempt to recreate the sound that ex-Tiamat member Johnny Hagel mastered on Sundown’s Design 19. Likewise, “Lucienne” is similar in its misguided drudgery. Edlund’s vocals show glimpses of promise, but are ultimately toiled and pitchy. And the would-be fist-pumping guitars? Honestly, Johan? Cheesy metal anthems went out with the Flowbee and Vanilla Ice’s shaved eyebrows.

On the other hand, “Will They Come,” “Summertime is Gone” and “Katarraktis Apo Aima” are stirring and emotive, something that Tiamat hasn’t been able to achieve for the better part of the past ten years. The creeping tempo and atmosphere of all three songs shows that Edlund allowed the music to form, instead of forcing something to happen. The three tracks, sandwiching the sloppy “Lucienne,” establish a somber, yet stunningly beautiful mosaic of atmospheric rock. “Summertime” is a fantastic rock song, mirroring a Paradise Lost-onian tone (Edlund sounds much like Nick Holmes on this track). “Katarraktis” is essentially “Summertime’s” second half, sounding almost identical, but with a more anger-laced component. The former song flows seamlessly into the latter, providing a nice continuity throughout the middle section of Amanethes.

The evil “Raining Dead Angels” is as ferocious and it is strong, detoxifying brilliantly into “Misantropolis.” “Raining Dead Angels” is death metal, black metal and gothic metal all meeting at the pinnacle of each genre’s most valuable asset. The pre-release publicity of Amanethes hinted upon a sound more typical of pre-A Deeper Kind of Slumber Tiamat, and those murmurings hold true on this track (not so much on most of the previous songs, however). Edlund’s vocals are vicious and piercing, the music symphonic and threatening. Quintessential female whispers add another dark element, cementing “Raining” as a standout track. Meanwhile, “Misantropolis” features a more subdued Edlund with his unmistakable voice hovering ominously atop one of the most musically lush and fulfilling songs on the album.

"Amanitis” is an interesting instrumental, seemingly influenced by the Greek surroundings in which the recordings took place. I’m not sure if this track was written prior to the band’s arrival in Greece, but it definitely sounds like it was an improvisation during recording rehearsals. Having said that, “Amanitis” is a nice connecting track, ideally placed on the album.

“Meliae” is an amazingly inspiring song, sounding very much like a modern-day Pink Floyd (not that surprising considering the space rock soundscapes of A Deeper Kind Of Slumber). Edlund’s uncanny vocal similarities to Dave Gilmore are ever-present on this song. Having listened to “Meliae” in excess of ten times before writing this review, I’m inclined to call it Tiamat’s most beautifully written and satisfying song…ever. The accessibility and rock-oriented aspect of the song may turn away some fans, but I’m confident that those not afraid to set aside expectations will find “Meliae” to be a truly pleasing experience.

Unfortunately, “Via Dolorosa” cannot hold under the weight of six of the last seven songs and finds its way to the land of the Amanethes bottom-dwellers, sucking on the radiance of the majority. The penultimate “Circles” is rather lackluster and boring. It does have moments of redemption, but not enough to sustain itself. The album’s closer, “Amanes” is the most tactfully menacing of the fourteen. It’s an effective ending to the album and closes things with slumbered pacing and a somber ambience. Truly dreadful.

As the album comes to a close listen after listen, I become increasingly content and comfortable with being proven wrong. Amanethes, despite its apparent flaws, is an admirable Tiamat release (tracks range from poor to exceptional – if this album lost some of its weaker songs, it could have been a stellar release). The album runs the gamut of atmospheres and emotions that we have come to expect from the band, and with a renewed vehemence and passion. I wish that we could erase two of the previous three albums from Tiamat’s discography, but this ascension from the ashes makes Amanethes that much more memorable and welcomed.


Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 8
Originality: 7
Production: 8
Overall: 8

Rating: 7.6 out of 10

Review by JD on November 18, 2018.

From Germany… we have disk by a band made up of many guest players like Victor Smolski (Almanac, ex-Rage), Jeff Loomis (Arch Enemy, ex-Nevermore), David T. Chastain, Gary Holt (Slayer, Exodus), John Norum (Europe), Nita Strauss (Alice Cooper) and others which is fleshed out as a concept album based on the infamous German pirate, Klaus Störtebeker. Color me curious. 

FB 1694 is the musical offspring of one Frank Badenhop, the metallic leader into the concept fray. He has enlisted the help of titanic bassist Mirko Gätje (Headbangers Nightmare) and drummer Michael Wolpers (Running Wild, Victory, ex-Herman Frank) and then added the prementioned list of heavyweight guests.  This might be damn good, me thinks. Clocking in at over an hour, this album is a beast.  Songs like 'Victual Brothers' and 'Gottland'are stand out tracks of power metal mayhem that satisfies even the most jaded of headbangers, and yet coming across the plodding instrumental like 'Hexenkessel' and the dark yet boring 'Mortal Symphony' are some of the handful of tracks that actually do nothing but take up space. Its about a sixty forty split on the disk, where only sixty percent seems to be good- and the rest drag it down into the murk of bordom. 

In all, Stortebeker is a good album, but with all of the metal muscle that was brought into the project – it should have been epic as fuck. As it is, its like a pompous virgin- all talk but just lays there and looks good. It od not bad, but just barely.

Rating: 6.1 out of 10

Review by Felix on December 28, 2021.

Six years. Is it really true, already six years? Indeed, the man who seemed to be blessed with the power to live a rockstar life eternally, died exactly six years ago. But a lot of his songs have no expiration date. Fortunately, some of them can be found on Inferno.

Lemmy, Phil and Mikkey offered a few extremely catchy yet absolutely heavy tracks on their album from 2004. The first one I must mention is 'In The Black'. It consists of an ingenious riff, uncouth yet smooth verses and a chorus that jumps into your brain like a parasite that will never leave you again. Lemmy sings like he has always sung and – only the best is good enough – he delivers the second voice as well. Needless to say that the number does not only provide solid heaviness, but also the casual touch that has given a lot of Motörhead’s tracks its special flavour. 'In The Name Of Tragedy' is a bit darker, but it also profits from a fantastic flow, a memorable chorus and its simple construction that invites you to bang your head. I know, it’s no new finding that Lemmy was always an expert in reducing music to its essentials and this song shows once again that conventional song patterns are no indication for a stale overall picture. This is all the more true as the production conveys determination, conviction and muscles. Inferno bursts out of the boxes with lots of self-confidence and so the right frame is set for the songs. Already the voluminous up-tempo opener 'Terminal Show' leaves no doubt that the album gives no reason for concern in terms of the mix.

But Lemmy has more aces (of spades) up his sleeve. His lyrics have always reflected his special view on the world. He delivers his potpourri of angry, cynical, ironic and laconic (“Life is not a TV dinner”) poetry which makes the musically strong songs even more enjoyable. A few times he also reflects on his own past (“Our badge the ace of spades”, “Eat the rich, life’s a bitch”, “Stay clean, be true”). And so he and the other two ruffians create a cool album that avoids almost completely lukewarm stuff. This does not mean that each and every song provides an overdose of excitement. But I guess that no Motörhead tune ever did this after Ace Of Spades – and this is no problem at all, because this band offered other values: permanent reliability, dirty humor, powerful chords. That’s what made them a constant, well-appreciated factor in the metal community.

With this said, the flawlessly produced Inferno is not as apocalyptic as its title indicates, but most of its songs have a nearly perfect flow, a great drive and a compact arrangement. Sometimes the band borders on speed metal ('Fight' is a distant relative of the rapid 'Eat The Gun' from Overnight Sensation), but they also take a trip to bluesy territories (the closer). Of course, a blues song is neither great nor necessary, but if there is a band that has the right to perform such a number, than it’s Motörhead. Every now and then, a song walks the thin line between “okay” and “meaningless”, for example 'In The Year Of The Wolf', but after all, there is no reason to skip a song. Even the somewhat lethargic 'Keys To The Kingdom' spreads a certain charm, although its neighbor 'Smiling Like A Killer' sounds much better: simple, direct, old school, simply Motörhead. Lemmy, we do not know exactly what you have done during the last six years, but we are happy that you and your comrades gave us such a rich legacy.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Joshua on January 22, 2005.

There are so many bands who fade away slowly, gradually weakening and burning out.

Then there's Motorhead.

Motorhead starts and ends with the same style that's defined them for the last three decades: A timeless blend of edgy rock and roll, traditional metal, and Jack Daniels. They've grown harder and heavier over time, but the basic song structures don't really change. Of course, bands who don't change at all are marked for death, and it seemed Motorhead followed this course on their last few CDs. They'd done nothing really memorable since Sacrifice in 1995,leading listeners to wonder how much of their talent left with Wurzel. However, here's what distinguishes Motorhead from the world's Metallicas and Megadeths: with Inferno, Motorhead incorporate exactly enough style changes to make their trademark style sound fresh and interesting. This is not the re-recorded Ace of Spades. This is a reinvented Motorhead.

Their songwriting has matured. Their music shows a diversity of influences, but retains the trademark Motorhead playing style. Their material is catchier and less anonymous. And Lemmy has managed to scribe some of the most intelligent lyrics since Orgasmatron in 1986, ranging from the serious and thoughtful (‘In the Name of Tragedy’) to the completely hilarious ("Whorehouse Blues"). ‘In the Name of Tragedy,’ has a more deliberate and menacing tempo than anything they've recorded since Orgasmatron. ‘Life's a Bitch’ plays at a rock and roll tempo last seen on ‘Don't Waste your Time,’ from the album Sacrifice. Actually, the tempo sounds remarkably like Little Richard...one of the few rock-and-rollers who looks creepier than Lemmy. Now, compare this to the frontal assault of tracks like ‘Fight’ and ‘Terminal Show,’ energetic thrash and pounding drums, and note that neither one has a weak moment on their new CD.

Well, therein lies the only criticism I can make: Some songs sound a lot like older songs. Of course, one expects that much from Motorhead. One wouldn't expect, though, that they don't sound like Motorhead classics. Rather, they sound like corrections to songs that were just slightly off, mostly from the early 90s. Compare ‘In the Year of the Wolf’ to ‘All Gone to Hell’ from Sacrifice. ‘Fight’ sounds a lot like ‘Burner’ from 1994's Bastards. Compare ‘Life's a Bitch’ to ‘Don't Waste your Time’ on Sacrifice. While they're not "No Voices in the Sky", it's obvious that some of these song ideas germinated years before -- even if they took decades to come to fruitition.

It's been awhile since Motorhead released an album where every song was interesting, memorable, and distinguishable from, well, every other Motorhead song. Infernodoes exactly this. There are no substantive weaknesses. There are no critical flaws. There's some rehashing of earlier material, but if that's not the hallmark of Motorhead, well then, what is? If you've never heard Motorhead before, and you want a stunningly bright, representative sample, then you should pick up Inferno. If you have, it suffices to say that this is Motorhead's best CD since Wurzel left, and you should hunt it down immediately.


Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 8
Originality: 7
Overall: 9

Rating: 8.2 out of 10