Review by Felix on January 17, 2024.

Ladies and gentlemen, fasten seat belts, we’re taking off. The space warriors Armory invite us to another adventurous flight. Okay, sometimes speed metal is a slightly dubious pleasure due to nerve-shattering lead vocalist who love high-pitched screams that can make sensitive creatures cry immediately. Aggravating the situation, the guitar lines sound quite happy from time to time. Dudes, if I want to have fun I am going to the cinema. Metal is a serious matter, at least in my homeland where laughing is more or less forbidden.

But Armory are nearly immune against the ugly components of their subgenre. The excellent artork of Mercurion does not promise too much dynamic. The Swedes always keep a close eye on the energetic appearance of their songs. A few strange sounds are not forbidden (in the middle of the powerful 'Deep Space Encounter'), but usually the band walks on the tradional paths of speed metal and traditional metal in general. The songs are not difficult to decode. Nevertheless, they are no musical fast food. Armory dish up a solid number of riffs per song and these riffs, as well as the leads and lines, show a cool understanding of the metallic arts. Accompanied by the somewhat boyish yet passionate vocals, the guitars guarantee a dense, coherent and intensive scenario. Despite some melodic parts, for example at the almost solemn beginning of 'Wormhole Escape', the quintet never neglects the necessary heaviness. And who has said that melodies or solemnity are a bad thing?

The production does not lack robustness and resilience. But the galactic dimension are obviously not totally free from dirty particles. Therefore tranparency is not written in big letters here. However, the marginally blurred appearance of the sound does not prevent a significant impact of the material. And so the guys celebrate some really cool moments with some vibrant riffs. Of course, they do not put new aspects to the subgenre, but a dreamy passage in 'Music From The Spheres' almost builds a bridge to the seventies and some of the slower parts tend towards power metal. Yes, my dear friends who like classic combos like Liege Lord or Savage Grace, this album can be very interesting for you. Okay, the two long tracks at its end are no masterpieces of compactness and the short instrumental 'Transneptunic Flight' does not add a lot to the intensity of the output. But it is also true that every song of the album does not only shine with substance and ambition, but also with power and atmosphere. The latter is not exclusively, but also created by some keyboard sounds, nevertheless it is beyond doubt that the guitars have the dominating part here.

What is left to say? I like the fact that the muscular opener kicks off the album without warm-up period, I appreciate that the band is aware of the importance of some catchy lines from time to time and I enjoy the old school feeling that the material transports. Maybe this is not the soundtrack for my final “Journey to Infinity” (I prefer “Whisky Funeral”, Darkthrone), but Armory send a really strong 'Message From The Stars'. The eighties are long gone, but their spirit seems to be still alive. The spaceship of the Swedes flies through a classic cosmos and I am happy that I was able to sneak on board as a blind passenger.

Rating: 7.7 out of 10