Review Summary: Impending improves just enough
When I first heard The Great Fear, the first single off of Impending Doom’s new release entitled There Will Be Violence, I was instantly excited and yet hesitant. This track showed Impending changing up their sound, most notably Brook Reeves, who has adopted a more hardcore yell along with his growls. Yet amidst these changes, I was hesitant because although Impending has released solid records before, most recently The Serpent Servant, none of them were exceptional. Upon my first full listen I realized that this album had changed that.
There Will Be Violence is at its core typical Impending Doom fare, heavy chugging guitars, relentless drums, and Reeves’ dynamic vocals, but the band has added some new elements upon these. More melodic and lead guitar work such as on The Great Fear, or the instrumental track, Love Has Risen, allows the listener some room to breathe. The drumming is solid, with enough fills and changes among the rapid double bass to create some variety. Guest vocal spots by Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying (Orphans) and Vincent Bennett of the Acacia Strain (The Great Fear) are nice addition to the vocals of Reeves. On There Will Be Violence Reeves has picked up his game yet again. While the majority of the vocals resemble the growls found on The Serpent Servant, he has added a hardcore style yell to his repertoire, and this does wonders by adding some variety to his vocals.
Although this album is the best put out by impending so far, it is far from perfect. Listeners who did not care for The Serpent Servant, may find this album to include more of the same chug happy songs. The breakdowns and low string abuse is still a little much to really put this album above everything else in the genre, but it is very solid outing by the band.
This may not be top 10 of 2010, or even anywhere on most people’s list, but it is a example of the band progressing slowly but surely and putting out a solid metal album worthy of a listen by even the casual metal listeners.
