Review - Impetuous Ritual "Unholy Congregation of Hypocritical Ambivalence"

First of all I can't review this album without paying homage to the great title.  What better way to sum the direction and attitude of this album could have been thought up other than that?  It speaks blunt disdain for its subject matter and prepares you  perfectly for what is to come.

The DM genre has taken on a whole new twist in the past few years as bands like Impetuous Ritual, Antediluvian, Aevangelist and of course Portal have continued to add their own individual blends of horror, sheer depravity and despair to the style yet still manage to retain the pummeling fury that DM fans are so familair with.

"Unholy..." is extraordinary in that it opens up by immediately ripping your face off before gradually grinding it in to the murkiest, filthiest and dirtiest shit pile it can find before dancing all over it!  This pace continues for the first 3 tracks and the band take no time to let you draw breath.  The album from the very start demands your attention, it doesn't sit in the corner waiting for you to pay interest in it; instead it simply envelopes you in its relentless thundering assault!

Special mention needs to be attributed to the guitar work on here, some of the shredding is truly demented leaving you dizzy as you try to keep up.  The vocals have this effect of sounding like a shift in time and even give way to totally depraved screams and shrieks at one point.  All the while this orgy of darkness and outright obilteration is driven by some furious drumming that sit perfectly in the gloom of the overall sound. You know it's all there, you can hear it ringing in your head, feeling it crawling on your skin but somehow it all just seems so surreal that you may question how probable the reality of what your senses are experiencing actually is.

A landmark release for 2014 so far for me, Impetuous Ritual have eclipsed their last effort with apparent ease. Not only are the songs themselves individual truimphs they flow effortlessly into one another and make up a true album not just a collection of songs.  Headphones on, lights out and let the evil in!  Go on folks you deserve it.

"Unholy...." is available via Profound Lore Records and can be downloaded here.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Excommunion "Thronosis"

End Of Year List - Countdown - Number 6

Rïcïn "Lïan"