Monday, April 2, 2012

Impending Doom - Baptized In Filth (2012)





1. "Murderer"   4:22
2. "For the Wicked"   3:33
3. "Chaos: Reborn"   3:55
4. "Deceiver"   3:36
5. "Falling Away"   3:41
6. "Absolute Horror"   1:56
7. "Angry Letters to God"   3:11
8. "Baptized in Filth"   2:28
9. "My Light Unseen" (feat. Ryan Clark of Demon Hunter)” 3:42
10. "Death. Ascension. Resurrection." 4:11
 (Genre – Deathcore/Metalcore)
 (Label – E1 Records)





  When I heard that Californian Christian deathcorers Impending Doom have a new record in the works, to be honest I wasn’t all that fired up about it. I thought their previous album “There Will Be Violence” was a step back from the two releases before that, and I expected more of the same. Well 30 seconds into the record, and I looked like the cereal guy sketch when he saw the development of the celebrities he predicted that “they’ll never have a boyfriend”. Aggressive, fast and groovy all mixed up to give you an album that grabs you by the balls from the first seconds.
 
  First thing you notice on the beginning seconds of the album is the mix. The mix and production is phenomenal to say the least.  Credits go to Andreas Lars Magnusson for the amazing work. He is also known for his work on The Black Dahlia Murder’s Miasma. Everything is so tight and well-balanced it makes this record an ear candy.  If you studied something regarding sound engineering or music technology like I did, you have to stand in awe in the overall quality of the guy’s work.

  The album kicks off with “Murderer” which sets the tone for the rest of the record perfectly. Exploding beats, amazing riffage, groovy, fast aggressive, all the things you meet later in the album summed up in one song. The follow up, “For The Wicked” reveals two things. A) Brook Reeve’s vocals have improved insanely over the years, and that is made perfectly clear at the moment you listen to them B) The lyrical direction is not gonna be the “you can have your beliefs, I can have mine” kind of thing in this album. No, they’re like “fuck this shit, you’re not gonna be a Christian? You are gonna die a horrible death and your soul is gonna be raped in the afterlife”. I think that’s the darkest aspect of this album, maybe the band as a whole. They’re like the Gorgoroth of Christians. Religiously extreme lyrics .whether they were christian or anti christian themed, were never my thing.
   
  Next three songs “Chaos Reborn” “Deceiver” and “Falling Away” gives you more of what you got so far, although the emphasis moves progressively after each song on  the groove.
   After “Absolute Horror”, a 2 minute interlude, comes “Angry Letters To God”. Ok, this song is some groovy shit. If you are to listen to this album/song in a place where headbanging isn’t acceptable behavior is suggest you don’t, cause you’ll probably end up having to deal with weirded up looks from people around you. It’s the highlight of the record and my personal favorite. The self-titled track is oddly the weakest in the album but still a great tune that ties up great with the rest of the songs. And so we reach “My Light Unseen” which is a surprise the band had in stores for the listeners… This song brings to mind early 00’s NWOAHM ballads… Only difference is that 80% of them were shitty and generic while Impending Doom’s tune is awesome for what it represents… The guest vocals from Ryan Clark of Demon Hunter fit perfectly in the song which makes it a very pleasant surprise and a great mellow spot in an album that is in your face from the first second in. The album closes with “Death, Ascension, Resurrection” which gets to show you how much more metalcore influenced the band got after their second release. A great song to conclude the album.

  This album is a 35 minute adrenaline rush. The mix/production, the individual performance of each band member, the amazing energy, all add up to make the best Impending Doom record so far. If you’re a fan of the genre I would definitely suggest checking it out, and if you can even afford to, you’d be doing yourself a favor by buying it.

Notable Songs : Murderer, Angry Letters to God, My Light Unseen. 

8 1/2 /10



3 comments:

  1. nice review, keep em coming

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  2. this was hell of a comprehensive review, good job man :)

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  3. never really listened to these guys after loving the serpant servant, that album was in heavy rotation back in the day, looks like i WILL have to check this one out too.

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