Translated from the original French
This demo is not one, because in fact what we have here is a genuine album (10 tracks), available only on cassette. Pro sound, very pro cover... "Black & White" sets out the Message of the Bible in black and white, touching on various subjects: suicide ("Suicide"), martyred children ("Cry Out For The Children"), the return of Jesus Christ to earth ("Hail To The King"), etc... The demo starts with "The Missing Peace", a short instrumental on acoustic guitar, over which Doug OXFORD (ARMADA's vocalist) says a few words to warn those whose ears might happen to stray onto this demo... "The Truth is as clear as BLACK and WHITE". "Black & White" is a good piece of rock: ARMADA plays a nicely four-square hard, neither very heavy nor very light. The vocals are hoarse, aggressive and well worked. "I Wonder 'bout This World" is already slower: very good job from the bassist (ED ENGLERTH) and the guitarist (Jeffrey SIPE). "Hail To The King" is ARMADA's first track whose chorus is underpinned by keyboards. No slow on "Black & White", but "Cry Out For The Children" is very cool, and the acoustic guitar dominates it; what is more, the melodies on it are catchy. With "Flesh'n Blood", we come back to good rock, with good rhythms. The other tracks "Hope Of Glory", "Renegade", "All Day Long", "Suicide" (which appears on the compilation "The White Metal Invasion") and "Jesus Is Calling You" are of the same calibre. In short, "Black & White" is a demo of high quality: ARMADA's hard is good and the sound is terrific. A pity that the result lacks originality. But, all in all, "Black & White" is a properly beefy demo, and ARMADA demonstrates (successfully) its concern to do the best it can, with an irreproachable seriousness.
Other coverage for this album
Heaven's Metal #19Reviewed by Caroline KnoxThis tape leads off with the tranquil sounds of a song called "Missing Peace", but wait - just as you're being lulled into thinking that this mellow feel will continue for awhile, the guitar is abruptly interrupted by the riveting metallic strains of "Black & White", a song which tells us to eliminate the grey in our lives and recognize things as black and white, clearly right or wrong. The band…
