RE-ARMED are an epic Finnish band hailing from the city of Kerava. With many demo tapes and full-lengths behind their back, and "The Era Of Precarity" is their latest one (released on September 16^th, 2016, for "Saarni Records" as a digital album and as a Digipak CD as well). Two years have passed since the band's last full-length entitled "Rottendam" and yet they have prepared some pretty decent listening material for their fans on their brand new record.

The CD consists of 12 tracks of pure Melodic Death Metal madness; which is modern yet loyal to its roots of the Scandinavian Melodic Death Metal scene. The album starts with an instrumental intro track, "Novus Ordo Seclorum", which, if translated from Latin to English, means "New Order Of The Ages". The album's second track "Lullaby of Obedience" starts off with a brutal drum intro and some classic melodic riffs and striking vocals that are typical of this genre.  The song also consists of a few solo parts and a bit more mild vocals, yet the harsh ones consistently dominate the track. It is a truly enjoyable track that will definitely keep your attention with its pure and brutal melodies.

Off to the 3^rd track  "Through The Barricades", and we get something completely different than the previous one. It starts with some sharp riffing and way harsher vocals than the ones we previously had the opportunity of hearing. "Riot Act", the 4^th track on the record, introduces the band's true power of riffing, combined with the extraordinary vocals. It's worth mentioning how both the guitar and vocal work are sometimes so brutal, they could be considered some really descent classic and old school Death Metal; which I adore. I might not be the biggest Melodic Death Metal fan, but this record is truly a perfect mix of brutality and kindness! The 5^th track entitled "Ivory Towers" opens up with a pretty Thrash-y intro riff that later on gets perfectly mixed with the Death Metal parts.

The vocals here are more enjoyable and will definitely not bore you to death, as some of the albums in this genre do. The band's lyrical themes are also quite interesting; you can truly feel the whole pessimistic, antisocial feeling through the band's lyrics - much like some of their album titles which bear similar sentiments (for example the band's demo from 2002, which was entitled "Life That Seems To Be Lost...", and their 2008 demo, "Stop This Evolution", or lastly their 2015 EP "Total Lack Of Communication".

Back to the album... The 6^th track, which bears the catchy name "Years Of Decay", comes off as a rather brutal track, but not completely, because in the middle of it and at the very end it has some chilly and relaxing sections; it even has a slow outro guitar part. Enough with the silence, for the 7^th track "Three Headed Beast" is literally a beast of a track because it attacks the listener with sharp and on point wild vocals and some really brutal screams! So far the latter is my favourite from the entire record, and although it's short, it is completely worth the listen. The 8^th track "Evolve Cycle" is positively surprising; both with its melodies and vocals - and this one also contains some slower, breakdown parts! (something that is pleasantly surprising to hear from a Modern Death Metal band). On the 9^th track, the riffs keep coming swiftly and without any mercy, with some distorted and inaudible vocals and whispers before the growls take place; and they will surely blow you away with their pure energy. They are brutal, but still understandable, if you want to follow the lyrics. Let's not forget to mention the tasty solos on track; absolutely in love with them.

The 10^th track "Cursed Beyond Belief" opens up with more riffs, which is kind of typical of the band, since they don't open up tracks with only sole vocals. The penultimate track "Purification" slowly prepares you for the final, apocalyptic number. This one contains more Thrash-inspired riffs and the weird thing is, I like how much experimentation this band actually does, because the vocals on this track are absolutely nasty - they could even be considered Brutal Death Metal (at some parts, not in the whole thing). The track also contains robotic voiceovers from time to time, which gives you a genuine apocalyptic feeling. "The Hunt Is On!" is the last track, and there is no better way to start it than with an epic doomy intro and finish the intro with some heavy, Thrash-y/Death metal-ish riffs. The vocals are beasty and will definitely gain your attention (if they haven't done that so far). This is how you end an album!

I must say this album was a pleasure to listen to. Even though not my favourite genre, it showed me that there are still some real gems out there that reach towards more experimental and bizarre sounds instead of the classic ones. If you like weird Death/Thrash metal with some melodic parts, give this album a go!