{"id":94621,"date":"2022-07-03T00:00:01","date_gmt":"2022-07-02T23:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=94621"},"modified":"2022-08-01T17:44:35","modified_gmt":"2022-08-01T16:44:35","slug":"album-review-armstrong-gun-armstrong-gun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-armstrong-gun-armstrong-gun\/","title":{"rendered":"ARMSTRONG GUN – Armstrong Gun (2022) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

ARMSTRONG GUN
Armstrong Gun<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nSelf-released (2022)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

This rough n\u2019 ready trio from Horley, Surrey in England is a bit of a strange brew, harkening back to the late 70s, but more so the early 80s New Wave Of British Heavy Metal scene.<\/p>\n

While at times slightly tuneless in its gritty vocal approach of drummer Lewis Tocker, one cannot deny the charm of this rumbling, ballsy ten-track affair. But for me the band is more forceful and fluid when bassist Dan Mortimer takes over the vocal reigns on three of the tracks (\u2018Still Alive & Kicking\u2019, \u2018Dark Dreaming\u2019 and \u2018Alone In The Oaks\u2019), it\u2019s here when the band sounds most authentic like some veterans of the scene ripping up the bar and stampeding the stage. Whatever frontman you choose though, Armageddon Gun has really taken the bull by the horns with this rockin\u2019 opus which is simplistic but extremely catchy, tenacious and streetwise in its swagger.<\/p>\n

\u2018Still Alive & Kicking\u2019 is just a straight down the line galloper with solid percussion and bass, and the guitar sound just takes it all a step further to the extent that there\u2019s an almost doomy play here. And Mortimer continues to show his vocal class on the superb \u2018Dark Dreaming\u2019, which again is fired by excellent axe work and a seriously evil riff and dank percussive thud. It\u2019s probably my favourite number on this debut, but there\u2019s further joys from Mortimar\u2019s vocals with the creeping, simmering \u2018Alone In The Oaks\u2019, where again there\u2019s that rainy, quintessentially British feel.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not all bad as far as Lewis Tocker is concerned vocally. His rasp is more punky and aggressive, particularly with opener \u2018Ravaged By Time\u2019 and on the bass led, and almost funky flavour of \u2018The Scraggard (Howlin\u2019)\u2019\u2026 a rare struttin\u2019 peacock pout in a sense.<\/p>\n

Musically, these guys don\u2019t put a foot wrong. \u2018Smart Kills\u2019 is oily and snarling and features some excellent bass work, \u2018Panzerchild\u2019 borders on thrash frenzy with its razor riffage, while the cover of Tank\u2019s \u2018Chain Of Fools\u2019 is effectively executed.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s where we are at with Armstrong Gun; powerful, organic Brit\u2019 rock that strides cocksure because of the punch it packs. Just slap on \u2018In These Trembling Hands\u2019 and I dare you not to tap or nod along as Cameron Smith\u2019s axe work leads us into the back alleys and barrooms of Southern England.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m assuming these guys have named themselves after the Victorian-era weapon, an apt moniker for such a fully-loaded metallic assault on the senses. Now, how about getting Dan Mortimer on the vocals permanently?<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ARMSTRONG GUNArmstrong Gun Self-released (2022)Rating: 8\/10 This rough n\u2019 ready trio from Horley, Surrey in England is a bit of a strange brew, harkening back to the late 70s, but more so the early 80s New Wave Of British Heavy Metal scene. While at times slightly tuneless in its gritty vocal approach of drummer Lewis […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,4912],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-armstrong-gun"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94621"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94625,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94621\/revisions\/94625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}