Impiety - Terroreign (Apocalyptic Armageddon Command) Review
by Mark Hensch
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Residing in Singapore under some of the most Draconian laws on Earth, Impiety has always thrived on pushing the boundaries of extremity and rebellion. With Terroreign (Apocalyptic Armageddon Command), they have blown away all social restraints with their brand of marauding, filthy black metal. Oppressive societies breed aggressive expression, and, as such, no one ravages airwaves with the same ferocity as Impiety.
Clocking in at a brisk 35 minutes, Terroreign is a furious carpetbombing of one's ears. The order of the day is insanely fast, relentlessly pounding black metal, screaming by with all the subtlety of a cruise missile. Devastating in scope, the album demolishes everything in range regardless of song.
The creepy incantations of "Intro," for example, are quickly annihilated by the assault of "Vientos de Holocausto." Breathless blastbeats speed by, racing neck and neck with fiery guitars and manic riffing.
"Atomic Angel Assault," meanwhile, offers no respite with its thundering percussion and huge, pulverizing riffs. If "Holocausto" is the initial air strike, this is the mechanized follow-up, a slow and methodical eradication of all enemy forces.
The album's title track is next, immediately slashing jugulars with ripping guitar solos and a raucous, chaotic rhythm section. Drum rolls pound like rounds of machinegun fire, hitting listeners fast and hard. With the addition of several crushing tempo shifts, the band hones "Terroreign" into a dominant yet versatile killing machine.
Following this, the rabid "As Judea Burns" steals the show with slicing tremolo melodies played at hurricane speeds. So fast is the song bursts of silence feel like gaping wounds, the lack of warmongering noise all the more conspicuous for its absence. Rounded out by some fantastic thrash soloing, "Judea" is definitely the album's firestorm.
"Goatfather" throws a curveball into the mix, the song drifting in on eerie ambience while spouting heavily distorted vocals. Exploding into blackened thrash, the song blazes with inhuman quickness. Most noticeably, the song displays memorable groove and rhythmic stomp at a pace beyond blistering.
"Bestial to the Bone" is the perfect Impiety anthem, its raging tempest of black metal flooding from speakers. When it drops gears into plodding beatdown, the cataclysm is all the more impressive for the drastic shift in pace.
For its part, "The Black F*ck" contains shredding, blastbeating and shrieking at overkill levels. Crushing like tank treads, it can barely contain its own destructive capacity.
The album proper closes with a cover of Morbid's "My Dark Subconscious." It displays the slower, punkier elements lurking in Impiety's sound, unleashing a gnarly cut of mid-paced groove. Though the album ends with a chilling, ambient "Outro," the cover in my opinion is a fitting final round. Either way, there is no momentum lost and the entire work is consistently wicked.
Raw and relentless, Terroreign pillages with the same intensity previous Impiety releases have displayed. Not unlike a career soldier, Impiety has only one tool in its arsenal and it is violence. Undeniably fiendish, Terroreign is yet another powerful salvo in the endless anarchy still defining Impiety today.
Tracklisting
Intro
Vientos de Holocausto
Atomic Angel Assault
Terroreign
As Judea Burns
Goatfather
Bestial to the Bone
The Black F*ck
My Dark Subconscious (Morbid Cover)
Outro
CD Info and Links
Impiety - Terroreign (Apocalyptic Armageddon Command) Rating:8.5
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