Decked out in authentic crusader garb, Babylon Mystery Orchestra's bold (very bold) mastermind Sidney Allen Johnson makes some major proclamations on his fourth album, Axis of Evil. Always controversial — the one-man revolution band has previously released concept albums about a thinly veiled nation bent on destroying itself through religion, politics, lust, greed, power and idolatry (Divine Right of Kings) and a satanic infiltration of the church ( The Great Apostasy-A Conspiracy of Satanic Christianity) — Johnson now sets his sights on some of today's most inflammatory international topics: Islam, socialism and the Illuminati. In fact, he argues they are a "triumvirate of treachery and wickedness that seeks to impose its freedom-suppressing will over the entire world … beckoning you to participate in your own damnation!"
You've been warned.
Lyrically, Johnson notes on his web site that "every effort has been made to be as offensive as possible whilst maintaining … intellectual integrity." In the liner notes, he even calls Islam's central figure, Muhammad Ibn Abdullah, the "DevilSpawn." Musically, Babylon Mystery Orchestra continues to invoke Rob Zombie, Therion and even KISS with thick, doom-filled arrangements. The vocal mix, combined with Johnson's droning baritone, makes some of this lyric-driven material difficult to understand without the aid of the thick booklet — which, by the way, is laced with quotes from Jesus Christ, the Bible, Henry Kissinger, an Al-Queda training manual and a Jihadist web site.
Johnson and, by extension, Babylon Mystery Orchestra is not for everybody. Some reviewers hate the man's views, and his web site is loaded with extreme imagery and his essays about the material on Axis of Evil. This is frightening stuff. But Johnson should be admired for having stones of steel; he'll need 'em.
Track Listing:
1) Annuit Coeptis
2) We Ride, You Die
3) DevilSpawn
4) Islam
5) God Given Right
6) Crusader
7) Diabolous Apocalypse
8) Illuminati
9) Novus Ordo Seciorum
10) Xenophobia
11) Martyr (The Patience of the Saint)
12) Come Drink the Wrath
13) God Damn the Children of the Beast
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