Impiety - Terroreign (Apocalyptic Armageddon Command)

August 11, 2009

Reviewer: Matt

Impiety deserve respect for staying in the game for fifteen years and remaining true to their core sound.  I have only a passing familiarity with this Singapore group, their cleverly titled 1999 album Skullfucking Armageddon being my sole touchstone.  Terroreign (Apocalyptic Armageddon Command), their sixth album, is a competent, engaging entry into the genre of brutal, booze-soaked blackened thrash a la Bestial Warlust.  It’s a must-have for fans of the style, but its vicious assault on the hearing and patience is unlikely to win Impiety any new fans. 

Impiety specialize in writing simple but savagely effective riffs that are almost punk in their contempt for nuance or embellishment.  Typical song structure alternates between three- or four-note melodies and rhythmic thrashing, never achieving much compositional depth beyond a rudimentary black and thrash metal vocabulary.  It’s good - noisy, blasphemous, tough-guy music with a lot of heart - but it regrettably has little to say.

Impiety’s biggest weakness is their over-reliance on speed. The sheer velocity of these songs and a poor mix render the drumming completely overwhelming, requiring no small feat of concentration to follow the guitars under the clattering percussion.  The guitars are consequently reduced to a drone nearly inundated by waves of blast beats and waterfalls, leaving the higher-mixed vocals to shoulder the burden of driving the compositions forward.  And riffs don’t have much room for variation at 200 bpm.

Even at a brief thirty-five minutes, Terroreign is a chore to listen to beginning to end.  The highlights of the album, “Atomic Angel Assault” and the Morbid cover “My Dark Subconscious,” are the slowest tracks.  The riffs have room to breath and develop, and the mix isn’t so cluttered and cacophonous.  Impiety could be a more interesting and less tedious listen if their tempo changes weren’t so infrequent.  And perhaps it’s due to the revolving door of musicians around core member Shyaithan, but a glaring problem I noticed on Skullfucking Armageddon persists on Terroreign: the drums and guitars are frequently out-of-sync.  The drummer is persistently rushing well ahead of the beat, dragging the riffs limply behind him.  It’s sloppy and unprofessional, and Impiety will never rise above the fray of similar-sounding bands if they don’t hone their musicianship.

In conclusion, this effort from Impiety is for the converted.  Many live for their brand of supersonic, drunken noise-terror, a hyperspeed black metal AC/DC.  If you do, Terroreign is a mandatory purchase.  Those who prefer metal a little less unrelentingly angry should skip it.

Release Date: May, 2009
Label: Agonia Records

TRACK LISTING

1. Intro
2. Vientos de Holocausto
3. Atomic Angel Assault
4. Terroreign
5. As Judea Burns
6. Goatfather
7. Bestial to the Bone
8. The Black Fuck
9. My Dark Subconscious
    (Morbid cover)
10. Outro

Total playing time: 35:44

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