Review by Chris Pratl on February 22, 2018.

I first discovered Ahab about two years ago on the band’s The Call of the Wretched Sea debut and was pretty impressed. While I’m not overly sold on the guttural-sounding vocals, I am overly-impressed with doom and “stoner” rock as it’s affectionately known in some circles. Plus, a band that’s seemingly obsessed with oceanic themes and sea tragedies is interesting as well (Gordon Lightfoot’s The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald remains one of the more haunting songs I’ve heard). So upon diving into Ahab’s latest release I’m once more treated to a band bent on tragedy-by-water epics and they didn’t disappoint. 

The down-tempo sludge that is this trip into the real-life sperm-whale attack on a ship called the Whale-Ship Essex, which eventually sunk. This left the crew to rely on cannibalism to survive, hence leading Moby Dick writer Herman Melville great inspiration for his classic novel. The opening track, 'Yet Another Raft of the Medusa (Pollard’s Weakness)', reads like a modern day Edmund Fitzgerald in its sheer poetry of lyric and tune. While not nearly as folk-sounding as its predecessor, it’s hauntingly beautiful build-up to the album is rife with originality and introspection. A solid meshing of prog and doom metal, the album is one-hour-plus of heavy riffs, somber instrumental passages and low vocal prowess that severs any and all lines of banality and mediocrity. The album is a musical trip to sea in many regards and it works rather nicely.

The idea of the concept album has been around since David Bowie went to out space and Alice Cooper started having nightmares, but to fashion such a relevant lengthy idea in the current age is not an easy feat. The target audiences have changed and the casual attention span has lost some of its potency with a myriad of peripheral distractions, but Ahab captures a fine piece of aquatic interpretation. The shortest song clocks in at just over seven-minutes, and aside from Opeth very few bands have been able to create such opuses and have them remain vital and interesting throughout the duration. Ahab understands the need for mood music, so to speak, and just when you feel that the seas have become too chaotic for man, the waters slow to a serenity that the music both creates and employs perfectly. If you’ve a vivid imagination this album is for you.

The music actually flows like a novella if followed and ingested evenly. It was a welcome change from the norm of everyday metal music with the heaviness of Black Sabbath finding a home in the watery graveyards of Ahab’s The Divinity of Oceans. 

This album is a good journey all around. 

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

(Originally written for http://www.metalpsalter.com)

Review by Adam on October 6, 2001.

Lets play a little game shall we!? It is your job to try and figure out where this band is from with the following clues I am about to give you. Number 1: They are an awsome, techincal as hell death/thrash band. Number 2: Their latest opus is dark yet extremely melodic. Any ideas? Well if said that these guys were from Sweden then guess what... YOUR RIGHT!

Well its not everyday we discover a great new band from Sweden...wait a minute, What am I saying?... It IS everyday! However, Theory In Practice are not your normal predictable Swedish export. These guys have one of the most insane sounds ever recorded by three musicians. Think of the non stop time changes of bands like Dillinger Escape Plan mixed with the dark overtones of black metal behind a thick wall of extremely technical death/thrash metal and then you will have an idea of what Theory In Practice have made with The Armageddon Theories.

One must actually experience the album firsthand; however, to get the full picture that Theory In Practice paint for the unsuspecting listener. It is a chaotic portrait with its own sense of dismal and sinister beauty which could only be created by these Sweds. Peter Lake absolutly shreds on the axe doing all the guitar parts for the album and writing all the material as well. The bass and keyboards on the record are expertly handled by Mattias Engstrand, and both the extreme vocals and inhuman drum tracks are executed by a man by the name of Henrik Ohlsson.

This record is definetly a rare gem within the huge and over crowded Swedish extreme metal realm. It has something for basically every type of metal fan out there and the intensity to kick any person directly in the ass and leave him or her sore for the rest of their lives. My advice to the person reading this review right now is to leave your house immediatly to pick up this cd. No metalhead is to be without The Armageddon Theories!

Bottom Line: Records like this are what the bottom line is all about! Buy this!...Buy it now!

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Adam on October 6, 2001.

Lets play a little game shall we!? It is your job to try and figure out where this band is from with the following clues I am about to give you. Number 1: They are an awsome, techincal as hell death/thrash band. Number 2: Their latest opus is dark yet extremely melodic. Any ideas? Well if said that these guys were from Sweden then guess what... YOUR RIGHT!

Well its not everyday we discover a great new band from Sweden...wait a minute, What am I saying?... It IS everyday! However, Theory In Practice are not your normal predictable Swedish export. These guys have one of the most insane sounds ever recorded by three musicians. Think of the non stop time changes of bands like Dillinger Escape Plan mixed with the dark overtones of black metal behind a thick wall of extremely technical death/thrash metal and then you will have an idea of what Theory In Practice have made with The Armageddon Theories.

One must actually experience the album firsthand; however, to get the full picture that Theory In Practice paint for the unsuspecting listener. It is a chaotic portrait with its own sense of dismal and sinister beauty which could only be created by these Sweds. Peter Lake absolutly shreds on the axe doing all the guitar parts for the album and writing all the material as well. The bass and keyboards on the record are expertly handled by Mattias Engstrand, and both the extreme vocals and inhuman drum tracks are executed by a man by the name of Henrik Ohlsson.

This record is definetly a rare gem within the huge and over crowded Swedish extreme metal realm. It has something for basically every type of metal fan out there and the intensity to kick any person directly in the ass and leave him or her sore for the rest of their lives. My advice to the person reading this review right now is to leave your house immediatly to pick up this cd. No metalhead is to be without The Armageddon Theories!

Bottom Line: Records like this are what the bottom line is all about! Buy this!...Buy it now!

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Adam on October 6, 2001.

Lets play a little game shall we!? It is your job to try and figure out where this band is from with the following clues I am about to give you. Number 1: They are an awsome, techincal as hell death/thrash band. Number 2: Their latest opus is dark yet extremely melodic. Any ideas? Well if said that these guys were from Sweden then guess what... YOUR RIGHT!

Well its not everyday we discover a great new band from Sweden...wait a minute, What am I saying?... It IS everyday! However, Theory In Practice are not your normal predictable Swedish export. These guys have one of the most insane sounds ever recorded by three musicians. Think of the non stop time changes of bands like Dillinger Escape Plan mixed with the dark overtones of black metal behind a thick wall of extremely technical death/thrash metal and then you will have an idea of what Theory In Practice have made with The Armageddon Theories.

One must actually experience the album firsthand; however, to get the full picture that Theory In Practice paint for the unsuspecting listener. It is a chaotic portrait with its own sense of dismal and sinister beauty which could only be created by these Sweds. Peter Lake absolutly shreds on the axe doing all the guitar parts for the album and writing all the material as well. The bass and keyboards on the record are expertly handled by Mattias Engstrand, and both the extreme vocals and inhuman drum tracks are executed by a man by the name of Henrik Ohlsson.

This record is definetly a rare gem within the huge and over crowded Swedish extreme metal realm. It has something for basically every type of metal fan out there and the intensity to kick any person directly in the ass and leave him or her sore for the rest of their lives. My advice to the person reading this review right now is to leave your house immediatly to pick up this cd. No metalhead is to be without The Armageddon Theories!

Bottom Line: Records like this are what the bottom line is all about! Buy this!...Buy it now!

Rating: 9 out of 10