Strike

Sacramentary Abolishment was at least good in parts. The tendencies that would define Axis of Advance were less frequent and when they did occur were masked by the lo-fi production. But now, 4 years later, as Axis of Advance, they've taken everything bad in what they've done in the past and made an album of it, and given it a production they can't hide behind.

Some people like to think that this is in the same vein as Conqueror, Revenge, etc. The kind of people that like the image of those bands but can't find it on the internet so they pretend they listen to it and use the reviews on this site for their opinion of the band. Fortunately, the music of the greats of this obscure 'war metal' genre never thought their music should be nothing but Amon Amarth - The Crusher with faster and more chaotic drumming.

A bunch of ludicrous song titles: 'Evanescent Judgement Of The Last Era', 'Absolute Conviction in The Accolade' combined with sickening wannabe-epic riffage (as said before, ala Amon Amarth) can never equal anything but pure shit. The only resemblence this album bears to the genre it claims to be is the fast and chaotic drumming, and thus if you're a nu-metal fan you probably couldn't tell the difference between Strike and War Cult Supremacy. I guess that's what led to AoA being classified as war metal.

I can't think of what kind of fanbase Axis of Advance are hoping for. If you like war metal, or even straight up black metal, you're gonna find the riffs too cheesy and Gothenburg sounding for your liking. The drumming makes the music sound a bit too extreme for the kind of people that like the cheesy Gothenburg crap. The only conceivable fanbase they could have is of posers who like to namedrop to make themselves look good, or think that fast music is always elite. However, if you like music, if you like originality, or coherence, or extreme metal, or abrasiveness in music, then stay away.