CRIONICS

It's getting to the point where I almost expect an album from a Polish extreme metal band to be of the utmost quality. The list is a long one: VADER, DECAPITATED, YATTERING, HATE, ESQARIAL, SPINAL CORD, SCEPTIC, BEHEMOTH, LOST SOUL, and the subject of this review, CRIONICS. "Armageddon's Evolution" is yet another outstanding release from the Metal Republic of Poland. As far as my tastes are concerned, I'll take Poland over Sweden in a heartbeat.

Anyway, CRIONICS' last album, "Human Error: Ways to Self Destruction", is more of a blackened death metal affair, even if the blackened part is substantial. In fact, the review I wrote for the album described it as a more "deathed up" DIMMU BORGIR. The difference with "Armageddon's Evolution" is that the "deathed up" part doesn't fit as well. If BEHEMOTH were back to being more of a black metal band, they might remind me of CRIONICS. You could say that if BEHEMOTH were covering songs by DIMMU BORGIR and EMPEROR, it might sound like "Armageddon's Evolution". (Incidentally, track #66 is a cover of EMPEROR's "The Loss & Curse of Reverence".)

Now that I've beaten the band comparison thing into the ground (and will continue to do so later),what's important for you to know is that "Armageddon's Evolution" is one ripping black metal album! The pace is fast and furious, the blast beats relentless, the vocal shrieks blood-curdling (if maybe a bit too heavy on the layering at times),and the guitars a razorblade tornado. The compositions are majestic in the sense that visions of Satan's minions bowing in eternal servitude are conjured, and the delivery might work as the soundtrack for a carpet-bombing run. The DIMMU BORGIR comparisons are in fact more accurate this time around, although even with a generous helping of eerie keyboard work, the symphonic element isn't as pronounced, while the only place you'll hear any clean/soaring vocals are on "Disconnected Minds" (and it's only in one part). If someone had never before heard anything resembling the fury of CRIONICS, and therefore hadn't become desensitized to the style, it would probably scare the shit out of him or her. This is dangerous music drenched in Christian blood and performed by talented musicians. "Armageddon's Evolution" may not quite measure up to albums like "Death Cult Armageddon" or "Demigod", but it can more than hold its own in a crowded field.