Impending Doom – Hellbent (EP)
Release Date: 12th January 2022
Label: MNRK Heavy
Bandcamp
Genre: Deathcore
FFO: Whitechapel, Chelsea Grin, I Declare War, Molotov Solution.
Review By: Adam Schultz
Impending Doom has been crushing Christian metal stereotypes for years now. They’ve long proved that music can be reverent to God and render faces to mushy pulp. They’ve never been afraid to push boundaries and experiment, usually to the boon of their albums. With Hellbent, they’ve taken it up a few notches both in production and songwriting, despite a small misstep.
From the very first moments of Hellbent’s first track, the Will Putney production touch is evident. The guitars are massive and thick without losing edge or clarity. The bass is dark and thudding. The drums are sharp, precise, and sit near the center of the mix, punching through the surrounding chaos. And the vocals… Brook Reeves has never sounded this vile and dark, and that’s quite the accomplishment considering the band’s prior releases.
All the production quality in the world won’t save boring songs. Thankfully, most of Hellbent doesn’t have that problem.
Satanic Panic kicks things off in a gear I don’t recall ever hearing the band engage in their previous work. Imagine a scenario where Iowa-era Slipknot tuned down and fell in love with palm-muted dissonant chords. Brook affects a distorted fry scream, sounding very much like a meaner Corey Taylor, leaving the gutturals for the few heavier accents of the song. The guitars are sharp, but often eschew a more traditional deathcore chug. A few open power chords (not the dissonant inverted kind) are thrown in as well, which is rare for the band. All in all, it’s definitely a different sound.
I’m not quite sure that I actually like it. I also find it a bit odd to open the EP with such a tonally unique song, considering that the remaining four songs are markedly nastier in delivery. After a few playthroughs, I found myself skipping it when listening to the release on loop. I appreciate the experimentation, but for me, it’s not a direction I’d like to hear more of in the future.
New World Horror takes us back into the grooving, galloping, bending deathcore riffs to which Impending Doom fans are accustomed. The syncopated guitar, drum, and bass hits are just massive, filling the aural space with pummelling pulses of pure headbanging joy. Good luck getting through this without a sore neck, because the next song is going to force you to use it again.
When I first heard Culture of Death, I was in my car getting ready to leave the grocers. A pair of elderly women were putting their groceries in their car next to me. As I turned on the engine, the Bluetooth of my phone connected and out blasted the galloping, hammering opening riff to Culture of Death. My door was still open, so everyone around me got it full blast. I couldn’t help myself. I went full-bore “stink face” and looked over at them, bobbing my head in time. They shared the squinted eyes and turned-up nose of my visage, but perhaps not for the same reason. I gave them a hearty wave and drove off, placing the song on repeat. If that is not a glowing affirmation of how absolutely crushing and listenable this song is, I am at a loss to find another analogy. It’s right up there with Murderer, my absolute favorite song from the band.
The title track and the EP closer I Must End are both similarly brutal and crushing. More of the Impending Doom trodding, stamping, thudding ear evisceration fans love, just turned up higher than any of their previous releases. The modern production and focus on tighter, less varied song construction helps give this EP an identity as the best sounding work the band has released. But is it the best overall work from them?
A long time ago, in another life and on a different metal site, I reviewed Impending Doom’s 2012 album Baptized in Filth. What that record lacks in production quality, it makes up for in the band’s best mix of heaviness, melody, and groove. There was not a single song on that LP that I can completely ignore. It remains my favorite record of theirs.
The more modern, tighter sound featured on Hellbent is very promising, and I can’t wait to see what the band brings to the table with a full release in the future. I just hope it’s more Culture of Death and less Satanic Panic.
(4 / 5)
