REVIEW: Impending Doom - The Serpent Servant

I'm not really a fan of deathcore type bands. In the past 5 years, the genre has gained quite a bit of notoriety for extremely heavy music, sometimes tuned down to B tuning, piercingly gutteral growls, and a DIY type of attitude. Bands like Job for a Cowboy, Despised Icon, and a bunch more helped bring modern Deathcore to its prominence, but enough with the history. After all, I'm not very well versed in this genre.

Impending Doom burst out of Redlands California's amazing scene of Christian aggressive music a few years ago, catching the eyes of Facedown records. Their debut record Nailed, Dead, Risen fell in line with most counterparts. Extremely heavy, crappy recordings, and overall a bit tedious and boring.

Jump forward to today, Facedown is much more of a notable record label, and has invested in finding quality producers for their artists. Impending Doom's most recent, The Serpent Servent, was produced by As I Lay Dying frontman Tim Lambesis, and he has done the band justice. The fast is faster, the heavy is heavier, and the band sounds better. Impending Doom's live presence is much more noticeable, and not one track lets up.

The track "More Than Conquerers" is the album's high point. It's a sonic onslaught, highlighting the bands ability to write an epic, breakdown filled deathcore song, that remains interesting from start to finish.

Now, this label by no means is going to win an award of artistic quality, or originality, but the bands ability to stay true, but evolve via recorded performance sets this record apart. There is a sense of uniqueness when recording metal bands, and Impending Doom is a perfect example. In a music style that prides itself on playing ability, recording perfection is basically required, and this album is a perfect example of that.

FINAL GRADE: A-
For Fans Of: The Great Commission, White Chapel, MyChildren MyBride