WARMACHINE – The Beginning Of The End

The Beginning Of The End by Warmachine is a throwback to “old school” Heavy Metal, full of heavy rhythms, wailing guitars, clear vocals, and great harmonies. It’s energetic, not overly fast but definitely headbanging material. Connoisseurs of good, old-fashioned, Melodic Power/Thrash Metal will love this CD.

Warmachine is a four piece ensemble from Toronto, Canada. The band was started in 1994 by Joe Di Taranto, who handles the duties of lead singer and lead/rhythm guitars. He is also the primary songwriter, penning both the music and the lyrics on all the tunes, with Andrea Zanini cowriting the music on track seven, “Forgotten Demise.” There have been some line-up changes in the band since it’s inception, and even since the album was cut. Credits for the album include Di Taranto as mentioned, Andrea Zanini on bass, and Andrew Zenti on drums, with other bass duties going to various artists, including Sean Gregory on “Beginning Of The End,” and David Ellefson of Megadeth fame on 3 tracks, while co-producing these 3 along with another. The current lineup, all different except for Di Taranto, includes John Salerno on guitar, Mark Harding on drums, and Alberto Campuzano on bass.

After three demo CDs, The Beginning Of The End was recorded between July 2003 and August 2004. The CD is about 44-minutes long and consists of eleven tracks. The production quality is excellent with no instrument overshadowing the other and a powerful, yet distinctive, sound.

Obviously, this is Di Taranto’s creation and he does it justice with his fine axe work and vocals. While listening to the album, you can almost picture the band rocking on stage. There is a common Metal thread that runs through all the tracks, although each is different and unique in its own right. There are plenty of guitar harmonies and soaring riffs, and the drumming is steady and strong. What sets this disc apart from other Metal CDs is that throughout the CD, there are great dynamics in volume and in tempo, which will keep your attention and keep it from getting boring.

The CD opens with the heavy strained guitar of “Betrayed,” which is a classic headbanger and leads into the faster-paced, all out rocker “Empty” at slot number two. Track three, “Beginning Of The End,” is a surprise as it comes in as an almost mellow tune. Although the main chord progression is repeated throughout the song, it never becomes monotonous, mostly due to the melodic lead guitar and excellent vocal work. Never have three chords sounded so good!

The fourth song, “Safe Haven,” opens with some great double-kicks and great harmonic leads, compliments of guest guitarist Mike Dmitrovic. It’s a heavy-hitter as is the next track, “Fate,” even though it throws in a nice, mellow pre-chorus lead-in. Possibly the best song on the CD, “Eternally,” has some incredible vocals, due in part to guest vocalist Harry Hess. Again, it’s a little mellower than some of the other songs, but not a ballad by any stretch of the imagination.

Track number seven, “Forgotten Demise,” kicks up the tempo and intensity again, which carries over to “Taunted Souls,” which starts off fast and only gets faster. There is some fantastic guitar soloing going on in the middle of the piece, which really cranks up the pace of the song and it builds to crescendo until the end. Number nine, “Eye For An Eye,” is a rocking tune with background vocals provided by guest vocalist Darren Smith.

“Dust To Dust” starts as a faster-paced number, but makes an interesting timing and rhythm change during the chorus. For some, this may be distracting at first, but it all blends very well. “Apocalypse” ends the CD as one might expect a song of that name to do. It is heavy, epic, and well … apocalyptic.

All in all, it’s a great Metal album for those in search of that truly strong, late 80s and early 90s Power/Thrash Metal sound. There’s not a bad song on the disc, and it’ll definitely have you whipping out your air guitar again.