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Back in 1986, in the days of the Iron Curtain, the Maryniewski brothers, Slavo and Krizz started playing Death Metal in their native Poland with their band Armagedon. After a couple of demos they released their debut, "Invisible Circle," which was issued on cassette through Carnage Records. Only a year later the band split. In 2006 the brother reformed Armagedon with the goal of recapturing their sound of 20 years earlier. Death Then Nothing stands as their official comeback album.

Overall, Death Then Nothing is a rather moderate Death Metal album, however, Armagedon haven't given in to any modern trends in the genre. Rather, they've continued to play old school as if they'd never parted ways. The demonic nature of Death music pioneered by Morbid Angel, Deicide and the newer sounds of Vader (without the Thrash Metal elements) can be heard on Death Then Nothing. The production is modern, but suits the music well.

The reason I didn't find Death Then Nothing all that special, despite my admiration of old school Death Metal, is because the songs are all very similar to one another. I like those demonic melodic trills quite a lot as well as the brutal vocals of Slavo, but I couldn't find much that was memorable. Nevertheless, there are some standout tracks like "Father of Oblivion," which is the closest thing to an 80s-oriented track, "Death Then Nothing," "Enemy," "Bed of Thorns" and "Emptiness Beyond Believe."

Death Then Nothing is a nice comeback album by a band that clings to the past. Armagedon is a strong force in their local Polish extreme metal scene. Going forward, they should try to vary their material more in order to complete the unholy cycle they started years ago.