Uh oh. I think this one is going to ruffle a few feathers.

Christian metal has slowly but surely elbowing it’s way into extreme metal, but with little success. From the early defining works of Believer to the more modern, often core based sounds of today like Becoming the Archtype and Extol, the Christians have slowly chipped away at what was once considered the Devil’s music. However, Christian metal has yet to really make a dent in one of extreme metal’s sub genres; brutal death metal.

So here is Southern California’s Impending Doom and their debut Nailed. Dead. Risen, and it’s sure to upset the previously off limits stylings of ultra brutal death metal –a genre generally owned by gore, porn zombies and such. On the surface, many may simply dismiss Impending Doom as a novelty act trying to force their way into a more extreme genre and push them off into the Job For a Cowboy/Suicide Silence/Whitechapel, Misericordiam realm of core kids trying their hand at death metal, and that in fact is superficially true, but truth be told, Impending Doom, regardless of their religious beliefs actually deliver a pretty impressive slab of Suffocation/Cannibal Corpse styled brutality that’s full of as much musical conviction as religious conviction.

Most of the band’s heft admittedly comes from the guttural bellowing of Brook Reeves, who delivers a pretty impressive ‘reeee’ and scream free delivery of cavernous proportions. Musically, Nailed. Dead. Risen. virtually blasts and rumbles from start to finish with a few expected, loping breakdowns along the way (“My Nemesis”, “In Reverence of…”, “Silence the Oppressors’), that might add to the deathcore tag, and rightfully so, but in the big picture of the entire album, there is much more of a sense of well “Impending” dread and menace, rather than, lets all jump around and kick each others moments of telegraphed heft. Just listen to the title track or the short, sample filled closing outro “He’s Coming Back”, arguably one of the heaviest moments in metal laid down by Christians (before the silly hidden ‘track’).

Ultimately I’m sure that fact this is death metal played but short haired kid and who are also devout Christians will get this album dismissed by many, but if you don’t ready the lyrics you can’t tell, and on a purely musical basis, Nailed. Dead. Risen despite being a bit forced, is a surprisingly bludgeoning affair.

[Visit the band's website]

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