One Man Army and The Undead Quartet 21st Century Killing Machine
Nuclear Blast Records NB1551-2 April 4, 2006
By Rodrigo Escandon
Do you miss Johan Lindstrad, formerly of The Crown? Well, he now fronts One Man Army and The Undead Quartet and thats where all comparisons or references to The Crown will end because these two bands have very little in common. Where one, The Crown, was exciting the other one. One Man Army is completely boring.
Most of the songs in 21st Century Killing Machine are in the mid-tempo range and none of them really stand apart from each other. The songs all just kind of blend to each other with none of them featuring any distinct qualities or memorable riffs. Sure, there are a few instances in the album like in When Hatred Comes To Life that features bells ringing and Johan speaking that sounds kind of unique but its too similar to the verses of Hell is for Heroes when Johan is singing in a whisper with backing drums and guitar notes slowly picked. In these two songs, those are the instances that stand apart from the mundane riffs but they do not improve the songs and are not enough to really differentiate themselves. In a gist, this is the main problem I have with this album that I alluded to in the beginning of this paragraph.
21st Century Killing Machine is really an uninspiring listen, that really has no redeemable qualities. About the only positive thing that I can really mention is that some of the guitar solos are fun to listen but to get to them you have to go through most of the songs and after a few listens that can be borderline masochistic. Well, at this point you may be asking yourself what I have to say about Johans performance since I did single him out in the beginning and frankly he saw better days in The Crown. His performance is just as pedestrian and average as the rest of the band members and its quite disappointing. But to be entirely fair to him the production is probably contributing a lot to these feelings about his singing because I find the sound to be very bass heavy. The bass drums are very high in the mix as is the bass and when the whole band is heard, the guitars and the singing definitely sound buried. I have listened to this album in my car and in my home stereo and in both systems I have found this issue and the audio settings on each have not been adjusted. Every album I play on both systems gets the same settings.
When I first read that Johan was involved in this band I was very excited to hear what One Man Army could offer but after each listen all I get are feelings of frustration, anger and disappointment.
4/10
UMs Review Rating Scale
One Man Army and The Undead Quartet Official Website
Nuclear Blast Records Official Website
Nuclear Blast Records NB1551-2 April 4, 2006
By Rodrigo Escandon
Do you miss Johan Lindstrad, formerly of The Crown? Well, he now fronts One Man Army and The Undead Quartet and thats where all comparisons or references to The Crown will end because these two bands have very little in common. Where one, The Crown, was exciting the other one. One Man Army is completely boring.
Most of the songs in 21st Century Killing Machine are in the mid-tempo range and none of them really stand apart from each other. The songs all just kind of blend to each other with none of them featuring any distinct qualities or memorable riffs. Sure, there are a few instances in the album like in When Hatred Comes To Life that features bells ringing and Johan speaking that sounds kind of unique but its too similar to the verses of Hell is for Heroes when Johan is singing in a whisper with backing drums and guitar notes slowly picked. In these two songs, those are the instances that stand apart from the mundane riffs but they do not improve the songs and are not enough to really differentiate themselves. In a gist, this is the main problem I have with this album that I alluded to in the beginning of this paragraph.
21st Century Killing Machine is really an uninspiring listen, that really has no redeemable qualities. About the only positive thing that I can really mention is that some of the guitar solos are fun to listen but to get to them you have to go through most of the songs and after a few listens that can be borderline masochistic. Well, at this point you may be asking yourself what I have to say about Johans performance since I did single him out in the beginning and frankly he saw better days in The Crown. His performance is just as pedestrian and average as the rest of the band members and its quite disappointing. But to be entirely fair to him the production is probably contributing a lot to these feelings about his singing because I find the sound to be very bass heavy. The bass drums are very high in the mix as is the bass and when the whole band is heard, the guitars and the singing definitely sound buried. I have listened to this album in my car and in my home stereo and in both systems I have found this issue and the audio settings on each have not been adjusted. Every album I play on both systems gets the same settings.
When I first read that Johan was involved in this band I was very excited to hear what One Man Army could offer but after each listen all I get are feelings of frustration, anger and disappointment.
4/10
UMs Review Rating Scale
One Man Army and The Undead Quartet Official Website
Nuclear Blast Records Official Website
