Review Summary: Impact Is Imminent proves that not every disaster is fabulous.
Oh, dear reader. The roller coaster drops again.
If Fabulous Disaster represented a climb in the chaotic career of Exodus, then Impact Is Imminent is the moment when the cart violently plunges down the track. And this time, it’s not just the production that raises eyebrows, but also the songwriting.
The production has somehow gotten worse again. This is 1990. Thrash metal already sounded massive on records like Rust in Peace and Seasons in the Abyss (and we were one year away from the Black Album), while Exodus seems stuck with a thin, harsh, almost amateurish sound. At times it genuinely feels like a garage band recording.
Don’t believe me? What is that guitar tone at 48 seconds into the title track? What on earth is that horrible sound? And the snare drum throughout the entire album? Lifeless. No punch, no energy. Good heavens, it’s 1990!! Couldn’t you guys do any better?
But the problem goes beyond the production. The compositions also feel like a huge step backward: generic riffs, songs that rarely stand out, and a constant sense that the band is just going through the motions. To make matters worse, Zetro’s vocal lines often sound awkward and strange.
The final result of Impact Is Imminent is an album that sounds odd, uninspired, and frustrating. It’s as if a band capable of writing classics had suddenly forgotten how to do it.
And this impression doesn’t seem to be merely personal — it also appears to reflect the general perception of this record within Exodus’ discography. Here on Sputnikmusic, for instance, the album holds the second-worst rating in the band’s catalog (losing only to Force of Habit).
Spotify numbers tell a similar story. Among Exodus’ studio albums, this is by far the least listened to:
• Tempo of the Damned — 58.5 million
• Fabulous Disaster — 32.8 million
• Bonded by Blood — 32.1 million
• Blood In, Blood Out — 16.3 million
• Persona Non Grata — 14.7 million
• The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A — 11 million
• Force of Habit — 10.9 million
• Shovel Headed Kill Machine — 9.9 million
• Exhibit B: The Human Condition — 8.2 million
• Pleasures of the Flesh — 5.1 million
• Impact Is Imminent — 3.37 million
Of course, popularity has never been the most reliable yardstick to evaluate a cultural product. But lacking something better, it’s the imperfect thermometer we have (in Brazil we even have an expression for that: “it’s what we’ve got for today”).
I wish I could comment on specific songs or highlight particular moments — something that stood out, something worth saving. But unfortunately almost everything here sounds the same. The tracks pass one after another without leaving much of a mark, forming a large blur of generic riffs. By the time the album ends, it feels like you’ve just listened to forty minutes of the same song.
In the end, the roller-coaster metaphor remains the best way to understand the career of Exodus. After a respectable climb with Fabulous Disaster, Impact Is Imminent represents another steep drop in the track. Almost nothing here excites, and almost nothing truly stands out.
