From the ashes of German blackened thrashers Disörder comes Armageddon Orchestra, who orchestrate a very raw brand of heavy metal with twists of thrash and even doom. That might sound strange, and that's because it is, as this band doesn't really sound like anyone else and certainly doesn't conform to any particular style. That's both a blessing and a curse here, for while you get cool songs like the epic ballad "Heroes of the Village" with its gorgeous guitar harmonies and JoF's emotional, nasally vocals and the oddball "Unbroken," which starts out as a punky party song before descending into what I can only describe as Opeth on acid, it mostly leads to a work that shambles between different ideas without any one unifying vision. That's not to say the songs are lacking in strong ideas, far from it, but the whiplash between something like "Die Laughing" imitating Alice in Chains and the proggy, Krux-esque "Without" makes this kind of rough to sit down and absorb, especially since half the time there doesn't seem to be a real reason behind these decisions besides a shrug and thinking it makes them sound distinct (witness their clear love of Beavis and Butthead in the closing instrumental "Eternal Summer.") All that said, there is undeniable talent and flashes of brilliance on display here, and that's enough to make this a band worth watching out for. I just hope they find a way to make all their ideas fit together instead of endlessly clashing them against each other.