Armageddon -

Armageddon was an English hard-rock band that released a 1975 self-titled album on A&M. The band featured ex-Yardbirds and Renaissance frontman Keith Relf with former members of Steamhammer and Captain Beyond.

Members: Keith Relf (vocals, harmonica), Martin Pugh (electric and acoustic guitars), Louis Cennamo (bass, electric bowed bass), Bobby Caldwell (drums, percussion, piano, vocals)

Background

Armageddon formed in Los Angeles in 1974 when singer–harmonicist Keith Relf assembled bassist Louis Cennamo and guitarist Martin Pugh in California, where they rounded the lineup with American drummer Bobby Caldwell (not to be confused with the U.S. soul-pop singer).

Relf fronted the Yardbirds from 1963 through the group’s 1968 breakup, then formed the acoustic duo Together with drummer Jim McCarty. The pair expanded the partnership into Renaissance with singer Jane Relf, keyboardist John Hawken, and Cennamo; the lineup recorded the 1969 album Renaissance and began work on Illusion before Relf left the group. Relf subsequently produced Medicine Head, Hunter Muskett, Saturnalia, and Steamhammer. He played bass on the 1972 Medicine Head album Dark Side of the Moon.

Before Renaissance, Cennamo played with Jimmy Powell and the Five Dimensions and the original Herd, with later session credits on the debut album by James Taylor and Zero She Flies by Al Stewart. He spent part of 1970 with Colosseum for Daughter of Time, then joined Pugh in Steamhammer for the final album Speech.

Pugh co-founded Steamhammer in Worthing in 1968 and remained lead guitarist through the group’s original run; his outside credits included guitar on the debut solo album by Rod Stewart.

The Armageddon partnership developed through Speech, which brought Relf into the final Steamhammer sessions at the suggestion of Cennamo. After Steamhammer completed its remaining commitments, Relf proposed a California-based group with Cennamo and Pugh. The three tested an American drummer in England but dismissed him after their arrival in California. Pugh then contacted Aynsley Dunbar in San Francisco; Dunbar, newly committed to Journey, referred him to Caldwell in Los Angeles.

Caldwell drummed with Johnny Winter And, then co-founded Captain Beyond and played on their 1972 debut. He subsequently recorded with Rick Derringer on All American Boy. Armageddon auditioned Caldwell at Studio Instrument Rentals, where he won the slot after several songs.

A&M A&R man Bob Garcia knew Relf through the Yardbirds and gave Armageddon rehearsal space on the Charlie Chaplin soundstage. Peter Frampton also helped the group establish contact with his manager Dee Anthony, who took on Armageddon as a client. A&M co-founder Jerry Moss attended a soundstage rehearsal and signed Armageddon to the label. The quartet spent roughly six months in California developing material, then returned to England and refined the songs at Clearwell Castle before an autumn booking at Olympic Studios in Barnes.

Armageddon

Armageddon released their singular self-titled album in May 1975 on A&M.

Relf leads the self-contained quartet, where Pugh flips electric and acoustic guitars while Cennamo balances picked and bowed electric bass. Caldwell juggles drums, sundry percussion, piano, and select vocal passages.

Armageddon contains five songs: the spiky fuzz-torcher “Buzzard,” the harmony-laden slow-burner “Silver Tightrope,” the windmill riff-rocker “Paths and Planes and Future Gains,” the bluesy slide-fest “Last Stand Before,” and the smoldering four-part epic “Basking In the White of the Midnight Sun.” Relf shares the principal composition credits with Caldwell and Pugh. Cennamo receives co-credit on “Last Stand Before” and the “Brother Ego” section of the closing suite.

“Buzzard” coils around a recurring wah figure in irregular meter, breaks as Relf enters, then dips to a doubled blues phrase before a false ending and final surge. “Silver Tightrope” drifts from echoed electric and acoustic figures into a bowed-bass passage, then swells as Relf layers falsetto lines toward a closing solo. “Paths and Planes and Future Gains” barrels through a hammering riff while Pugh cuts frantic wah leads across abrupt accents.

“Last Stand Before” lopes through a syncopated stomp, then loosens into an extended jam before harmonica and guitar trade closing lines. “Basking in the White of the Midnight Sun” charges through galloping “Warning Comin’ On,” drops into the slower “Brother Ego” and a fuzzed solo passage, then returns to the opening figure amid dense distortion. ……the spiky fuzz-torcher “Buzzard,” the harmony-laden slow-burner “Silver Tightrope,” the windmill riff-rocker “Paths and Planes and Future Gains,” the bluesy slide-fest “Last Stand Before,” and the smoldering four-part epic “Basking In the White of the Midnight Sun.”

A1. “Buzzard” (8:16)
A2. “Silver Tightrope” (8:23)
A3. “Paths and Planes and Future Gains” (4:30)

B1. “Last Stand Before” (8:23)
B2. “Basking in the White of the Midnight Sun” (11:24)
— “Warning Comin’ On”
— “Basking in the White of the Midnight Sun”
— “Brother Ego”
— “Basking in the White of the Midnight Sun” (Reprise)

Armageddon recorded the album in late 1974 at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London, with engineer Doug Bennett and tape operator Nigel Brooke-Harte. The group produced the sessions; Caldwell and Pugh arranged the material. Bennett previously engineered Hawkwind’s 1974 album Hall of the Mountain Grill at Olympic.

Armageddon appeared in a sleeve art-directed by Roland Young, A&M’s director of advertising art and record-album design. Joe Garnett designed the package. His adjacent work included illustrations for Deep Purple’s 1974 album Stormbringer and REO Speedwagon’s 1975 release This Time We Mean It. The front cover shows the four musicians amid rubble and blasted trees beneath the group logo.

Armageddon secured an opening slot on Eric Clapton’s 461 Ocean Boulevard tour, but the booking disappeared before the group left Los Angeles. The quartet played two nights at the Starwood, their only concerts under the name. Armageddon reached No. 151 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

Repertoire first reissued Armageddon on CD in 1998; Esoteric followed with a remastered edition in 2009 on compact disc. Deko Entertainment issued an authorized 50th-anniversary edition in December 2025, including a remastered 180-gram Atomic Red gatefold LP limited to 500 copies. The expanded package adds photographs and updated credits.

Postlude

Armageddon dissolved in 1975 as Relf’s respiratory condition worsened. He returned to England and began planning a reunion with Jane Relf and Jim McCarty that autumn. Keyboardist John Hawken also agreed to return.

Relf died from an electric shock at his home in May 1976, ending his role in the proposed reunion. Cennamo and the surviving Renaissance members continued as Illusion with guitarist John Knightsbridge and drummer Eddie McNeil. Illusion issued Out of the Mist in 1977 and followed with Illusion the next year.

Caldwell returned to Captain Beyond for the 1977 album Dawn Explosion. Pugh later played on the 2007 7th Order album The Lake of Memory. Cennamo later worked with Jim McCarty in Stairway and Renaissance Illusion.

Discography: