Armageddon is a Swedish

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...

band led by

Christopher Amott Christopher Amott (born 23 November 1977) is a Swedish guitarist, younger brother of Michael Amott and founding member of the metal bands Arch Enemy (band), Arch Enemy and Armageddon (Swedish band), Armageddon. He is most recently the former gui ...

Arch Enemy Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a Supergroup (music), supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass (band), Carcass, Armageddon (Swedish band), Armageddon, Carnage (band), Carna ...

History

Formed in

Halmstad Halmstad () is a port, university, industrial and recreational urban areas of Sweden, city at the mouth of the Nissan (river), Nissan river, in the provinces of Sweden, province of Halland on the Sweden, Swedish west coast. Halmstad is the seat ...

in 1997 by

, Armageddon began when

were invited to Japan to sign a new record deal with Toy's Factory records after the release of the '' Black Earth'' album. While in Japan, Christopher secured his own record deal for a solo project, which became Armageddon. When he returned to Sweden, he recruited drummer

Peter Wildoer Karl Peter Wildoer is a Swedish musician who is the drummer for Darkane, Electrocution 250 and Grimmark. He has also drummed for the bands Armageddon, Majestic, Pestilence, Silver Seraph, Arch Enemy, Time Requiem, Soilwork, Gardens of Obscuri ...

(

Darkane Darkane is a Swedish metal band that originated in Helsingborg in 1998. Their music contains ample thrash elements interspersed with acoustic interludes and symphonic features, such as the in-studio use of synthesizers and occasionally full or ...

, Majestic), bassist Martin Bengtsson, and vocalist Jonas Nyrén (In Thy Dreams). The band released their 1997 debut album, ''

Crossing the Rubicon The phrase "crossing the Rubicon" is an idiom that means "passing a point of no return". Its meaning comes from allusion to the crossing of the river Rubicon from the north by Julius Caesar in early January 49 BC. The exact date is unknown ...

'', on the now defunct W.A.R. records in Europe, and on Toy's Factory Records in Japan. ''Crossing the Rubicon'' focused primarily on

, but incorporated instrumentals and special effects pieces between each song. The album was released by the same label that released Arch Enemy's first album in Europe, but it folded soon after the release of ''Rubicon'' and the album has since become a rare find. To this day, ''Crossing the Rubicon'' has never been released outside of Europe and Japan. Following ''Crossing the Rubicon'', Peter Wildoer and Martin Bengtsson both joined Arch Enemy, recording and releasing ''

Stigmata Stigmata (, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion Five Holy Wounds, wounds of Jesus in Christian ...

'' in 1998. Christopher would focus on Arch Enemy for the better part of three years, and did not return to Armageddon until 2000's '' Embrace the Mystery'', released in Japan on

Toy's Factory is a Japanese record label founded in the late 1980s as a subsidiary of the entertainment company VAP, based in Japan. On May 30, 1990, it was established as an independent company. It is an associate member of the Recording Industry Assoc ...

records. The album featured Last Tribe members Rickard Bengtsson on vocals and Dick Lövgren on bass (later of

Meshuggah Meshuggah () is a Swedish extreme metal band formed in Umeå in 1987. Since 2004, the band's lineup consists of founding members Jens Kidman (lead vocals) and Fredrik Thordendal (lead guitar), alongside rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström, drumm ...

), as well as Arch Enemy's new drummer Daniel Erlandsson (

In Flames In Flames is a Swedish Heavy metal music, heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990 out of the Swedish death metal, Swedish death metal scene. Their lineup has changed several times, with vocalist Anders Frid ...

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

). In 2002, Armageddon resurfaced with ''

Three 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

'', this time as a three-piece band, and featuring the vocals of Christopher Amott and new bassist Tobias Gustafsson (of

). Almost a pure power metal effort, the album was again released by Toy's Factory, and only in Japan. On 16 November 2009, ''Embrace the Mystery'' and ''Three'' were re-released as 2-CD set with upgraded artwork, several bonus tracks and liner notes on 16 November 2009 in Europe and on 26 January in North America via Century Media Records. In 2012, Christopher Amott once again quit Arch Enemy, and reformed Armageddon once again, featuring Matt Vicklund of

God Forbid God Forbid is an American metalcore band formed in East Brunswick Township, New Jersey, East Brunswick, New Jersey in 1996. Initially breaking up in 2013, they have been semi-active since reuniting in 2022. History Early career (1996–2004) ...

on guitars and

Van Williams Van Zandt Jarvis Williams (February 27, 1934 – November 28, 2016) was an American actor best known for his leading role as Kenny Madison in both Warner Bros. television detective series '' Bourbon Street Beat'' (1959–1960) and its sequ ...

Nevermore Nevermore is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1992. The band was formed after three of its members — vocalist Warrel Dane, bassist Jim Sheppard and guitarist Jeff Loomis — ended their prev ...

on drums. In January 2015, the band announced

Nightrage Nightrage is a Greek/Swedish melodic death metal band originally from Thessaloniki. They later re-located to Gothenburg, Sweden. History Formation and ''Sweet Vengeance'' (2000–2003) Nightrage was founded by Marios Iliopoulos and his cl ...

vocalist

Antony Hämäläinen Antony Hämäläinen (born August 28, 1980) is a Finnish extreme metal vocalist living in the United States. Biography In the early 1990s, Hämäläinen started playing bass, drums, and singing for multiple bands based both in the US and Finl ...

as their replacement for the recently departed Matt Hallquist. On 25 May 2016, the band announced via their social media ''"We are happy to announce that the next Armageddon release will be a re-recording of the very first Armageddon album from 1997 entitled 'Crossing The Rubicon'. We are excited to share this news with you!''" As Amott was not able to commit time to Armageddon, in 2019, former members Hämäläinen, Concepcion, Claudius, Pevny and drummer Yanni Sofianos have formed Daughter Chaos, a band intended to be a spiritual successor of Armageddon.

Band members

;Current members: *

– guitars, vocals * Joey Concepcion – guitars * Márton Veress – drums *

– vocals * Andrew Pevny – bass ;Former members *

Jonas Nyrén Jonas Nyren is a Swedish metal vocalist. He joined In Thy Dreams in 1996 recording an EP (''Stream of Dispraised Souls'') and the band's debut album, ''The Gate of Pleasure'', but before the album's release he left the band in 1999. He also recor ...

– vocals * Martin Bengtsson – bass *

– drums * Rickard Bengtsson – vocals *

Dick Lövgren Dick August Lövgren (born 11 November 1980) is a Swedish musician. He is the bass guitarist for extreme metal band Meshuggah, which he joined in 2004. Biography In his early days, Lövgren was particularly impressed with the Metallica bass gu ...

– bass *

Daniel Erlandsson Daniel John Erlandsson (born 22 May 1976) is a Swedish musician, best known as the drummer in the melodic death metal band Arch Enemy and as former drummer of extreme metal bands Carcass and Brujeria. His early work includes drumming on the In ...

– drums * Tobias Gustafsson – bass * Matt Wicklund – guitar ( *

– drums * Matt Hallquist – vocals * Sara Claudius – bass

Timeline

Discography

;Studio albums *''

'' (1997) *''Embrace the Mystery'' (2000) *''Three'' (2002) *''Captivity & Devourment'' (2015) *'' Crossing the Rubicon (Revisited)'' (2016)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Armageddon Swedish melodic death metal musical groups Swedish power metal musical groups Swedish thrash metal musical groups Swedish progressive metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups disestablished in 2002 Listenable Records artists Toy's Factory artists Musical groups from Halmstad