Artillery Denmark

""B.A.C.K." is not considered a proper Artillery album by some, and the Stützer brothers themselves have also described it as more of a project thing. But if it walks like a bantha and smells like a bantha, it must be a bantha, and this sounds like Artillery and it's got three fifths of the band plus, hey, it's released under the Artillery monicker.

So for my money, it's an Artillery album.

Musically, we are dealing with typical Stützer-composed Artillery thrash with fast paces semi-technical riffage combined with groovy and more melodic parts. There are a lot of strong tracks on this album, such as "Cybermind", "WWW", "how Do You Feel", "Paparazzi", and the title track. The afore-mentioned groovy parts are more prevalent on this album than on any predecessors, but that is probably due to a general influence from groove metal which was prevalent in the 1990s. Given that the band still retains some groove nowadays, "B.A.C.K." is perhaps a bigger milestone in the history of the band than most people consider it to be.

This is the last Artillery album to feature Flemming Rønsdorf on vocals. I have always liked his unique and strange voice, and I think that he does a really good job of it here, too. It is in part his presence on the album that makes this a true Artillery classic in my eyes (well, ears, I guess).

This is an underrated released by an underrated band. Thrash metal fans should check it out. It is not as good as the legendary "By Inheritance" or their subsequent albums, but it is still very good.

Oh, and Invocator and The Haunted fans might take an interest in it too, as it features Per M. Jensen on drums.

(review originally posted on metalusicarchives.com)"

"(Warning: this review contains fanboy outbursts of joyous appraisal combined with political frustration and disillusion)

The world's most underrated thrash metal band are back. Artillery's forthcoming album "My Blood" is the Danish band's sixth album, and I must say, it really friggin' kicks ass.

First off, Artillery deliver their usual style of high octane somewhat technical thrash metal, and tracks like "Monster", "Dark Days" (man, the chorus is so awesome), "Death Is an Illusion", "Thrasher", "Warrior Blood", and "End of Eternity" are prime examples of Artillery's uptempo, aggressive, yet groovy and melodic and distinct style of thrash metal (which proves that you don't necessarily have get soft as you grow older).

But I also detect some experimentation and introduction of a couple of new elements. For instance, the opening track "Mi Sangre (The Blood Song)" is more epic and exotic than anything the band has ever done before. I mean, the eastern influences have been there since "Khomaniac" on their masterpiece 'By Inheritance', but here, they take it to the max with an introduction includes didgeridoos, Middle Eastern scales and an epic exotic feel.

As "When Death Comes" showed, vocalist Søren Adamsen has been a real asset to the band, and he continues to amaze on this album, and even those who prefer Flemming Rønsdorf's voice will surely have to admit that Adamsen has brought something new to the band with his powerful voice and sense of melody and precision. I hasten to add that absolutely love Rønsdorf's work on "Terror Squad", "By Inheritance" and "B.A.C.K.", but Adamsen's voice is a major contributor to the sense of energy that characterizes "When Death Comes" and "My Blood".

Admittedly, there are not many things these days that induce a sense of national pride in me; I hate the government, I hate the mentality that has been prevalent among the population for the last ten years or so, I hate how the national TV has devolved into pure trash, I hate the blatant racism that has been incorporated into many aspects of the administrative system, I hate the bad rep my country has gained around the world, and I hate the unoriginality and lack of balls on the mainstream music scene (there's a great alternative scene though). Yes, although I love my country, there are a lot of things I hate about my country these days (well, I hate them because I love my country, and I think they're damaging to the country). "What the hell does this political rant have to do with this album?", you might ask. Well, it is bands like Artillery and releases like this that remind me that I still have reason to be proud of my country, which in turn makes me feel hopeful for the future of my country.

This is an awesome album, which is recommended to all fans of thrash metal. I hope that the band has more albums on the way in the future. And, I would recommend all Danish metal fans to support the unsung heroes of thrash metal and buy this album.

(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"

"A thrash metal masterpiece worthy of comparison with thrash metal classics such as "Master of Puppets", "Rust in Piece", "Impact Is Immanent", "Arise", "Weave the Apocalypse", "The Legacy", "South of Heaven" and their own "By Inheritance", Artillery's "When Death Comes" is an almost perfect thrash metal release, at the same time modern and retro, it is, for my money, an instant classic. Each song contains a flurry of high energy riffs, and it's hard to imagine that this high energy music is performed by gerying and balding middle aged men (of course, skill comes with age, and these guys are higly skilled rock musicians). The vocals suit the music very well, and while I prefer Flemming Rønsdorff's vocals, sick as they are, their present singer, Søren Adamsen does a very very good job indeed. Hats off. This should appeal to any fan of early Testament, early Slayer, early Exodus, early Metallica - in short, any fan of classic thrash metal."

"One of my favorite thrash albums of all times, "By Inheritance" manages to capture influences from the thrash scene of the late 80s in both Europe and America, blending in elements from, for instance, Megadeth, Metallica, Kreator, Anthrax, and Sodom into their own, quite original style of technical thrash metal. The vocals are sick in the good way, adding originality to the album. Fans of old school thrash metal and technical thrash metal should like this."

"Ah, "Fear of Tomorrow" by Artillery is a fairly unknown 80s thrash metal classic, combining the European/German thrash metal style associated with the likes of Sodom and Kreator with the American style of Metallica and Megadeth (and the quirky compositional style of fellow countrymen Mercyful Fate). While the production could be better as could, in some cases, the performances on this album, it's still an interesting listen, and not just for the sake of nostalgia. While "Fear of Tomorrow" is by no means a progressive albu, most of its tracks contain several crazy changes in time and tempo that some prog metal fans might appreciate."