Band:	Arch Enemy
Album:	Doomsday Machine
Style:	Gothenburg metal
Release date:	July 26, 2005
Guest review by:	Horlequism

Disc I
01. Enter The Machine
02. Taking Back My Soul
03. Nemesis
04. My Apocalypse
05. Carry The Cross
06. I Am Legend/Out For Blood
07. Skeleton Dance
08. Hybrids Of Steel
09. Mechanic God Creation
10. Machtkampf
11. Slaves Of Yesterday
12. Heart Of Darkness [Live in Paris 2004] [Japanese bonus]
13. Bridge Of Destiny [Live in Paris 2004] [Japanese bonus]

Disc II [German limited edition bonus DVD - Live Apocalypse preview]
01. Intro
02. Dead Eyes See No Future [Live in London 2004]
03. Ravenous [Live in London 2004]
+ Nemesis [video clip]

Doomsday Machine marks Arch Enemy's third installment in their new millennium Angela Gossow period. This album certainly has the slickest production of all three Gossow albums. Gossow herself has been produced in order to sound harsher vocally, sometimes bordering on black metal screeching on some songs. Fans of previous Gossow albums will enjoy Doomsday Machine but will be sad as this is the last Arch Enemy album with Christopher Amott on it. Amott left the band in the summer of 2005 in order to continue his studies.

Doomsday Machine simply presents more of the same. Arch Enemy hasn't changed any of the previous ingredients offered up on earlier releases. It's actually quite amazing how they can continue to excel in the death/thrash vein and never stagnate the genre like many bands have. Doomsday Machine sounds almost accessible at times. Songs like We Will Rise, Savage Messiah, and Dead Eyes See No Future from earlier albums also hinted at commercial aspects the band could present. The melodic and almost poppy guitar melodies in the chorus of Nemesis, where Angela's vocals really don't fit to well, could be an example of this on Doomsday Machine. Furthermore, Angela's vocals are very parallel to many compositions on Doomsday Machine; it sounds like she sound sing some lyrics clean instead of growling them.

Arch Enemy is great at breaking songs down into acoustic or clean guitar passages in many of their harsh compositions. This is once again displayed on Doomsday Machine. There are in fact more breakdowns on this album then on any other. Random samples pop in here and there, especially on a track like My Apocalypse where is sounds like a dolphin has been installed into the refrain melody.

Carry The Cross is a great example of hard/soft structure. Here again is another example of how Angela should be clean singing instead of growling. Finally, the highlight of the album is of course I Am Legend/Out for Blood. This is a two part song. The first part consists of instrumental thrash while the second part contains intricate well-designed fast guitar licks combined with Angela's newly produced vocals as the harsh overtone to the mixture.

Doomsday Machine is a very well thought out piece of work. Catchy brutal chord structures are still presented and effectively pounded into the listener's head over and over again. This makes Arch Enemy an indefinite force to be reckoned with. A gifted band, Arch Enemy has completely reinvented the death/thrash genre with their refreshing perspective. This is one of their best albums and with such a firm piece of work like this, many Arch Enemy fans remain impatient to see weather they will put out more of the same or delve into more commercial territory