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Theory In Practice: The armageddon theories

08/11/07 || Kampfar

Theory In Practice isn’t exactly renowned as Paris Hilton, nor anyway near as loose, which is good since they have an above average interest for the technical aspects of metal. In fact they’re fucking tech junkies. I’ll elaborate in a while, barely.

The band was formed in 1995, a year they wisely spent playing gigs and honing their skills. Sometime during ‘96 they decided fit to record a demo and paid Tägtgren’s Abyss studio a visit to get the job done. I don’t know exactly what year Peter started producing, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t have many albums under his belt at this time. Anyway, the band left the former madhouse with a demo in hand, one (reportedly) good enough to stir up interest from several labels at it. I won’t deny the quality of their bait – haven’t heard a second from it, so how could I? – but the fucker didn’t exactly attract big fish. How do I know that? They ended up on Pulverised Records, that’s how.

And that’s where they released “The armageddon theories” as well, though after its release bigger fish inevitable appeared, inevitable as this is nothing short of a breathtaking effort. Admittedly most so because of the flabbergasting skills of the performers but the actual music is nothing to sneer about either.

From the very first seconds you, as a listener, are bombarded by riffs and solos, and though this is neither a brutal nor heavy album, it won’t take long before you realize it is more intense than what so-called brutal death metal bands churn out on a daily basis. It doesn’t take much of a man to follow a straight blast, even when played by Flo Mounier, but to cope with all the shit Theory in practice throws at you can be quite a feat. And at times they do end up sounding like a fucking blur but the exact reason I dig this band is due to them not making a habit of it, instead creating actual songs. Well, as close as a band of this ilk will ever be.

The main reason I don’t tattoo the album-title into my forehead is because of the vocals. Not that they are truly bad, but I sure as hell think more force should’ve been put into the effort. And not only is the performance rather lacking and weak, it’s placed a wee bit too high in the mix as well, sometimes making it hard to pick out the sweet, sweet details. Let me put it this way: I’m not surprised Mr. Ohlsson does drums and not vocals in Scar symmetry cause he sure as hell is a way better drummer than vocalist. Well, at least the words shrieked are way, way over the metal standards. They are actually worth reading.

I’ve tried to come up with bands sounding similar to Theory in practice on “The armageddon theories”, but even though I know technical death metal bands exist in abundance all I can come up with is Death on speed. Good fucking speed.

PS! Best experienced through headphones

8 perfect wanks out of 10.

Information
Released: 1999
Label: Pulverised records
Website: hem.passagen.se/theory
Band
Henrik Ohlsson: vocals, drums
Peter Lake: guitar
Mattias Engstrand: bass, keyboard

Tracklist
01. Dehumanized
02. The visionaire (Angelic possession)
03. The armageddon theories phase I – prophecies
04. The armageddon theories phase II – carnage Earth
05. The armageddon theories phase III – departure
06. The armageddon theories phase IV – embryo
07. The armageddon theories phase V – posthuman Era
08. Embodied for war

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