Impending Doom - Nailed. Dead. Risen.

[circus_brimstone]

Impending Doom – Nailed. Dead. Risen.
Facedown Records – FCD064-2 – September 4, 2007
By Jason Jordan

To claim that Impending Doom are unabashed about their collective beliefs would be an understatement. Considering the label they’re signed to, the cover art, the title Nailed. Dead. Risen., and song titles like ‘The Mark of the Faithful,’ ‘For All Have Sinned,’ and ‘He’s Coming Back,’ it should be kinda obvious that California’s Impending Doom are a Christian, brutal/slam death metal band. Whether or not you think Christians have a place in death metal, or even metal in general for that matter, this quintet’s debut is proof that they’re instrumentally talented. However, though Nailed. Dead. Risen. is a display of skilled musicianship, it’s also monotonous when listened to for a significant length of time – especially from beginning to end.

The intolerant will skip the prayer-led intro ‘Left Behind,’ and, in effect, start with ‘My Nemesis,’ which has familiar slam riffs, bombastic drums, and guttural, unintelligible growls. Ironically, adjectives like unforgiving and punishing describe Impending Doom fairly well, even if they don’t necessarily encapsulate their message. For better or worse, there’s also a deathcore vibe to parts of Impending Doom’s music, citing the presence of breakdown-heavy instrumental sections and copious bass drops in ‘In Reverence Of’ and elsewhere. Others, including ‘The Mark of the Faithful,’ ‘Condemned,’ ‘At the Churches’ End,’ and ‘Silence the Oppressors’* possess the same traits, more or less, despite subtle changes in riffs, tempos, et cetera. Somehow, though, it all ends up sounding the same after a while – a complaint that has plagued brutal/slam death especially. So the 11 songs total approximately 35 minutes, but regarding the hidden track, that’s an easy pass as well since it consists solely of vocal mic antics recorded in the studio.

Overall, Nailed. Dead. Risen. is an above average record, but not one that will receive much replay from me. On the bright side, it’s encouraging to see Facedown moving in a different direction by releasing albums outside their typical hardcore niche.

Official Impending Doom Website
Official Facedown Records Website

 

[circus_brimstone]

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[UnstoppableGore]

Im glad you did a review for this album. They are one of my top bands and they dont get to much coverage. I love this album and if need only one song to get the idea of the album just listen to the title track.

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Generic deathcore for the most part, but not too bad. Also, it's not brutal/slam! That's insulting to me.

However, what's interesting is a band called Rose Funeral put out an album this year, also deathcore, called Crucify.Kill.Rot...looks like Impending Doom have an antithesis!!

 

[bluefiregasm]

This was an interesting album. I never did understand the Christian faith combined with deathcore grind, nail me up & bash my head in with your drums, it's an anomoly. But for the most part, the lyrics are cool and the riffs are rippin'. All in all, I'd say it was a really good album for the deathcore lover's ears. I do agree however, it does get monotonous trying to keep up with it from start to end. BUT, there is definitely talent here.

From 1-10, I give a 7-mostly for talent and effort.

 

[Balphagor]

Awesome album. Awesome pig squeels. It's a shame they stopped the squeels in their new album.

 

[nebbo13]

i listened this album once, didnt do much to me yet. i can name alot of good christian metal bands that can surely compare to other metal, they dont seem to hang on to a certain genre in metal alot. they just make what feels good.

and also, when they take the lyrics serious, most aspects of the song get more depth and dont sound flat.