EP Review: Artillery – Made In Hell
Reviewed by Gareth Pugh
It’s been a few years since we have heard from Danish veterans Artillery, and there have been a few changes since tenth album ‘X’ released in 2021. Long time vocalist Michael Bastholm Dahl has moved on to pastures new as has guitarist Kræn Meier, and of course there was the sad passing of drummer Josua Madsen (RIP), so major upheaval for many reasons. So, joining sole surviving founder member Michael Stützer (guitars and primary songwriter), and long time bassist Peter Thorslund, who has been around since 1989, are Frederik Kjelstrup Hansen (drums), René Loua (Guitars) and vocalist Martin Steene.
To introduce this new line-up the band has issued this four track EP; ‘Made in Hell’, with two brand new tracks, a re-recording and a classic live track. The title-track starts with some archetypical eastern melodies that the band has made their own, before segueing seamlessly into some trademark heavy Danish riffing. One of my minor quibbles with 21st century Artillery has been the shift away from thrash to a slightly more power metal approach, especially in the vocals, as both previous incumbents Michael Bastholm Dahl and Søren Adamsen were both very melodic and clean vocalists, so I was very keen to hear what Steene’s approach would be.
I’m glad to say that the grit is back, don’t get me wrong, he’s still very much a singer, and can carry a melody with ease, he has a great range, but his standard singing voice is in a lower register, bringing him more in line with Flemming Rönsdorf who sang on the first four albums, although he does lack a bit of the manic, banshee like qualities of Flemming, he also utilises a lower growl to great effect, as on the title track, musically the riffing is extremely tight, with razor sharp guitar work, with the production highlighting the powerful performance. Second track ‘The Ghost in the Machine’ is more driving with more of a mid-tempo stomp, with the middle section again making good use of those eastern style melodies. Both of these new tracks are growers, neither of them on first listen really rattled my cage, but after a few more spins they really imprinted themselves into my brain and are worthy additions to the Artillery discography.
Rounding out this mini-album are new versions of a couple of classic tracks from the debut album “Fear of Tomorrow”; a newly re-recorded studio version of ‘Into the Universe’, which is decent, but isn’t a patch on the original, and for some reason the band has decided to double track the vocals in places, which really doesn’t work for this listener, much better is the live version of ‘The Almighty’ which is raw and faithful and shows that the band are still a potent live act. It’s great to have these Danish legends back, and “Made in Hell” is a tasty appetiser, I’m now really looking forward to album number eleven.
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