IMPALED EXISTENCE
It appears that Impaled Existence have been making quite the impact playing alongside Exodus, Evile, Decapitated, and Kataklysym, and appearing on the New Blood Stage at Bloodstock to much acclaim. After hearing ‘These Lifeless Plains’, it’s easy to see why, though you wouldn’t think it during the first minute of the EP. Opening with an orchestral piece that sounds like a cheap, clichéd epic fantasy movie soundtrack, ‘Between Sensation and Reality’ quickly (and fortunately) gives way to four tracks of blistering technical savagery, intricate riffs, aggressive drumming, and menacing vocal work. ‘Fictions Within The Mind’s doomy opening passage is terrifyingly dark, a slow-burning introduction that leads into a set of chugging breakdown riffs delivered at a deliberate and coarse tempo. The call/response-style that opens ‘If Error Were True’ gives way to more chugging chunky riffs that will further threaten many a club’s dance floor with their pneumatic-drill pounding. Many a neck will suffer at the hands of these ugly tracks.
Just before the EP threatens to become a formulaic facsimile of the floor-slamming breakdowns of deathcore, ‘Through Stinging Eyes’and closer ‘Worthy of Remains’ shift the band into something more their own. The chunky chugs are still in play for both tracks but they throw in a bunch of new dynamics to the mix with the two guitars utilised to add weight, depth, and dimension. ‘Through Stinging Eyes’ is a heavier and more brutal track featuring some very impressive lead work, Richards’ drumming in particular coming to the fore. What lets this incredible track down is that at a little over three minutes, it’s far too short. Leaving any audience wanting more is no bad thing of course, but cutting a track as impressive as this off just as it shifts up another gear does a band no real favours.
Impaled Existence’s riffs are their strength. When they hit their stride and shift away from the concrete-smashing breakdown drubbings oh-so-predictably characteristic of a host of deathcore bands such as Whitechapel and Suicide Silence, Impaled Existence have something uniquely their own that were it explored and developed, could very well see making their way up the ranks. A band to watch.
Just before the EP threatens to become a formulaic facsimile of the floor-slamming breakdowns of deathcore, ‘Through Stinging Eyes’and closer ‘Worthy of Remains’ shift the band into something more their own. The chunky chugs are still in play for both tracks but they throw in a bunch of new dynamics to the mix with the two guitars utilised to add weight, depth, and dimension. ‘Through Stinging Eyes’ is a heavier and more brutal track featuring some very impressive lead work, Richards’ drumming in particular coming to the fore. What lets this incredible track down is that at a little over three minutes, it’s far too short. Leaving any audience wanting more is no bad thing of course, but cutting a track as impressive as this off just as it shifts up another gear does a band no real favours.
Impaled Existence’s riffs are their strength. When they hit their stride and shift away from the concrete-smashing breakdown drubbings oh-so-predictably characteristic of a host of deathcore bands such as Whitechapel and Suicide Silence, Impaled Existence have something uniquely their own that were it explored and developed, could very well see making their way up the ranks. A band to watch.
LABEL:
FORMAT:
Self-released
EP
THESE LIFELESS PLAINS
Review by Jason Guest
RUNNING TIME:
17:35
RELEASE DATE:
21st Nov 2011
TRACK LISTING
1) Between Sensation and Reality
2) Fictions Within the Mind
3) If Error Were True
4) Through Stinging Eyes
5) Worthy of Remains
2) Fictions Within the Mind
3) If Error Were True
4) Through Stinging Eyes
5) Worthy of Remains
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
UK
"...four tracks of blistering technical savagery, intricate riffs, aggressive drumming, and menacing vocal work."
