1968 brought the end of the Yardbirds, a band that had been one of the primary innovators of heavy, experimental guitar rock, with lead singer Keith Relf and drummer Jim McCarty finding themselves increasingly at odds with the bands raucous lead guitarist, Jimmy Page. Deciding to turn their backs on the emerging hard rock scene that Page would soon conquer, Relf and McCarty instead formed the much more folk-minded Renaissance, which found limited success. By the mid-seventies, both Renaissance and another (still folksy) band Relf had formed, Medicine Head, had folded and Relf found himself without a band at a time when Page’s fame was reaching monolithic proportions. The frail singer hooked up with guitarist Martin Pugh and bassist Louis Cennamo, both from Steamhammer, as well as powerhouse Captain Beyond drummer Bobby Caldwell. Relf’s original intention was to form another folk-based band, but he didn’t count on the influence that Caldwell, an absolute motherfucker of a drummer, would have, especially on Pugh, who would turn in some of the strongest guitar work of his career. The band ended up being a combination of Sabbath style downer-dirges and the progressive pedigree of the member’s previous bands. The cover of their first and only album depicted four hairy, gaunt individuals sitting nonchalantly amongst a pile of rubble below a murky, ash-soaked sky, while the back showed the same figures turned to stone. Flower picking time was over and Relf was ready to rock again, even if it was partly against his will, and the best parts of Armageddon’s album certainly do, even if they don’t make a sludge as single-mindedly thick and putrid as the best of their peers.

“Buzzard”, the leadoff track and frequently cited highlight of the album starts with a swirling wah-driven riff borrowed from Steamhammer’s own “Penumbra”. The somewhat muddy and “brown” sound of the record is actually a strong point at a time when other hard rock bands were using increasingly slick production techniques to smooth out their sound. After a lengthy intro, there’s a small breakdown before Relf begins to sing. Right from the start Relf gives everything he’s got, belting out the lyrics as hard as his emphysema wracked lungs will allow over the busy riffing of the band. Relf, the wispy-voiced singer who sounded uncomfortable singing “Dazed and Confused” in the Yardbird’s last days sounds considerably ballsier here, marauding around like a 98-pound nerd from a Charles Atlas ad who’s whipped himself into shape and wants to kick sand in the faces of all the bullies who made fun of him. Following the bridge, Pugh starts to solo using his omnipresent wah pedal, his thin but piercing guitar tone successfully imitating a bird of prey. Taking the dynamics down, Relf plays some double tracked harmonica over an ultra tight, near electronic sounding beat from Caldwell near the tracks end. The band gives one final rave up and the track ends. Despite (or perhaps because of) its meandering nature, “Buzzard” succeeds as both a progressive finger-flashing exercise and hard rock downer-dirge.

Unfortunately, the next track, “Silver Tightrope”, doesn’t continue the momentum set up by “Buzzard”. Perhaps they were going for a “21st Century Schizoid Man/I Talk to the Wind” sort of ultra-contrast, but pretty, effects laden guitar and falsetto vocals do not a make a great song by themselves, and it goes on for too long without trying anything interesting. Here, the shifting white-water rapids of “Buzzard” are exchanged for a stagnant pool. Although people who bought the record when it originally came out frequently pick this song as another highlight, play someone under 25 “Buzzard” and “Silver Tightrope” back to back and see which one they like better.

Things pick up for the next track, “Paths and Planes and Future Gains” which gets things back to rocking mode, feature more wah-drenched guitar heroics from Pugh along with the slippery bass and crashing percussion. It’s the most conventionally structured and straightforward song on the album, with another good solo from Pugh. The effect is still considerably less than “Buzzard”, but at only 4 ½ minutes it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome.

“Last Stand Before” suffers from many of the same problems as “Silver Tightrope”, namely over-length and lack of exciting progression, the group this time going for a quasi-funky, Zeppelin style stomp that doesn’t succeed at a gut level the way Zeppelin’s best quasi-funky stomps so gloriously do, although I will admit Caldwell lays down a Bonham worthy beat. A guitar/harmonica duel between Relf and Pugh at the end adds some interest, though like the rest of the song it overstays its welcome.

This brings us to the last track on the album, the 4-part suite of “Basking in the White of the Midnight Sun”, with the somewhat flowery title distracting from its status as the heaviest song on the album. After a storming intro dubbed “Warning Coming On” that comes off as a combination of “Red”-era King Crimson and galloping proto-Iron Maiden, Relf and company decide to throw everything they have left into this nearly 12-minute suite. Manic drum fills, huge riffs, and a slowed down mid-section called “Brother Ego” that culminates in a fuzz-harmonica jam are all thrown in with aplomb before Cennamo and Pugh slather on as much distortion as they can and bring us back to the main theme of the song. Caldwell once again proves his skill on the drums, laying down a charging beat and effortlessly making his way through the transitions. Even DJ Shadow considered Caldwell’s drum breaks on this song to be sample worthy. Relf sounds like he decided to add some roids’ to his Charles Atlas workout, as one can almost visualize the veins on his head popping out as he screams that final “SSSUUUUUUUUUUNNN!!!!”. Still more dirty wah from Pugh and the song and album crash to a halt. It’s an exhausting but ultimately rewarding listen, and in places the band reaches an intensity near the level of the new wave of British heavy metal bands that would emerge within the next few years.

Unfortunately the group would never get to expand upon the sound they had created in their best moments, with Relf dying of electrocution a year after its release and the group disbanding. Despite its inconsistency, Armageddon’s debut showed that the members were ferociously talented on their instruments and is worth a listen for the epic prog-metal scorchers that bookend the album.

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