The word ‘armageddon’ comes from Hebraic, and represents the clash between armies of the Lord and the devil at Valley of Megiddo. But today, the word is used to describe any end-of-the-world scenario, or in other words, it can be used to describe the end of the days in any culture. It’s not a coincidence that Metal acts use such word so often. Again, it’s used, because “Armageddon” is the name of the 5th full-length of the quintet WARKINGS. Felix Heldt (the producer, and that worked on the recordings of the vocals), Jacob Hansen (who mixed and mastered the songs, and worked on the recordings of the drums), and Jeremy Lentner (recordings of bass) created a clean and defined sonority (in a model usual for Power Metal acts), but that sounds heavy as needed, without damaging the melodic side of the band’s music.

As guests, here are Sebastian ‘Seeb’ Levermann (of ORDE OGAN) on the vocals on “Genghis Khan”, Dr. Dead of DOMINUM on the vocals of “Hangmen’s Night”, and people of SUBWAY TO SALLY on “Stahl auf Stahl”. And to show a good first impression, Péter Sallai (artwork, layout) did a great work, indeed. It’s obvious that the band didn’t change after seven albums - it would be an offense with their fan base after all - and comes again with the same Heavy/Power Metal filled with excellent instrumental parts and very good vocals (Morgana le Fay, who sang as guest on “Morgana”, is a member of the band, and her vocals improved a lot the band’s musical ideas). It’s far from being complicated - it’s not the band’s idea - the songs shown on this release are all filled with charming melodies, excellent choruses and tons of energy. Music is about fun, right? If it’s the case, “Armageddon” is the release you were looking for.

“To Lindisfarne” (just an intro), “Armageddon”, “Genghis Khan”, “Kingdom Come”, “Morgana’s Incantation” (an intermezzo), “Circle of Witches”, “Kings of Ragnarök”, “Call to Arms” (another intermezzo), “Troops of Immortality”, “Nightfall”, “Hangmen’s Night”, “Varangoi”, “Here Comes the Rain” and “Stahl auf Stahl” (that brings a taste of Neue Deutsche Härte to the album) forms a set of fun songs that are easy to like, with all the features already described above. And although such a musical genre isn’t different from what is already known, the work of the quintet is excellent.

WARKINGS is here to stay - like it or not - and “Armageddon” is a very good (and fun) release.