Stigmata 1998

"As is typical of the modern type of metal referred to as melodic death metal (of just modern metal by some Swedish artists such as Nothing Divine), "Stigmata" is highly ecclectic, drawing on traditional metal, NWOBHM, death metal, thrash metal and a plethora of other metal subgenres, and what characterizes it is the emphasis on catchy guitar melodies and retrospective riffs juxtaposed with death metal and thrash metal riffs - there is also a sense of progressiveness to it, which probably is derived from Ammott's love for Queensrÿche.

As with the other non-Gossow fronted releases, this album really is just as good as Gossow era albums, and whether or not you like it is just a matter of whether you can live with Arch enemy being fronted by someone else.

The opening track "Beast of Man" starts out sounding like a typical death metal track and even contains a couple of blast beats, before it takes a more melodic turn. "Stigmata" and "Sinister Mephisto" are more melodic and slightly reminiscent of 80s German power metal at time - the latter also contains a super cool main riff. Well, there are cool riffs all over the place on this very well balanced album.

"Stigmata" shoul appeal to fans of death metal, thrash metal, power metal, melodic metalcore and melodic death metal alike.

(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"