Hard, Heavy and a Classic 1975
Armageddon Armageddon 1975 (A&M)
Progressive Rock-Hard Rock
An extrapolation of excess to please any supergroup!
Armageddon were a very short lived supergroup that consisted of ex-Yardbirds vocalist Keith Relf, session guitarist Martin Pugh, bassist Louis Cennamo who had a been in a large amount of bands including progressive rock act Renaissance and Bobby Caldwell ex-Captain Beyond on drums. In their very short time as a band, Armageddon probably demonstrated how they were the perfect combination of a hard rock band and a progressive rock band all merged into one, with neither genre dominating the other. Their debut album just consisted of five songs and they’re certainly lengthy songs at that but contain a real level of quality to match the quality of the artists here. Music wise they sounded like a combination of Led Zeppelin and Captain Beyond (no surprise there of course with Bobby Caldwell on board) and any number of progressive rock acts from the decade, and the overall result was that Armageddon sounded distinctly unique, with nobody else really sounding anything like them! Like most supergroups we have four highly talented individuals on show here and I have to say the guitar work of Martin Pugh might be the pick of the bunch which is a tough choice as all are outstanding here, then there’s Keith Relf’s voice which might not be to everybody’s taste but personally I really dig it! Supergroups have often been clichéd as being self-indulgent and excessive, and Armageddon are no exception to this viewpoint and in fact this album is about as self-indulgent as anything else in the decade. Just listening to every track here from the album opener “Buzzard” to the album closer the multi-suite “Basking in the White of the Midnight Sun” all smacks of 1970s excess especially with its lengthy jamming sessions and punctuated guitar riffs.
In many ways Armageddon were a precursor for the progressive metal explosion of the 1990s and when I think of Armageddon I usually think of The Mars Volta, even though there is a much heavier Yes influence on the work of The Mars Volta, but the uniqueness and similarity of the two bands at times is quite startling. Armageddon as a band were destined not to work, this was largely due to the excessive drug intake of the band and the differences of opinion between its band members, and sadly the following year vocalist Keith Relf died accidently at home ending any possibility of a sophomore set for Armageddon. This album is very much a cult classic and should be dusted off as its a true treasure.
Keith Relf- Vocals
Martin Pugh- Guitar
Louis Cennamo- Bass
Bobby Caldwell- Drums
Production-Armageddon