CD Review

Impaled Nazarene - “Death Comes in 26 Carefully Selected Pieces”

By Marcus Pan

For fifteen years and ten albums Finland's Impaled Nazarene have been slamming their brand of dirty black metal. Their live shows rival some of the best metal spectacles the world over according to Kerrang. Finland's version of Gwar, Impaled Nazarene's Death Comes in 26 Carefully Selected Pieces is their first official live record and was originally recorded on December 19th '04 at Helsinki's Tavastia Club.

A long 26 tracks of some of the heaviest thrash and speed I've heard, Death Comes is a brutal smash to even the hardest core fans. The band is staunchly Satanic in their sensibilities and it’s painfully obvious in their music (We're Satan's Generation, Sadistic 666, Sadogoat) as well as their imagery. Unlike most speed metal bands, Impaled Nazarene aren't your typical "speed it up so they can't tell we can't play for shit" brigade. The music is highly technical, well performed and surprisingly the album is excellently mixed and mastered for a live recording. The album photography within the jacket is excellent, and gives a very good idea of the brutality of the group on stage.

Of course you can't understand any of the lyrics, being the guttural decimated growl typical of black metal which is what makes it difficult for most folks' sensibilities. But the lyrics are included for those who aren't affected by continuous visions of horror, war, decadence, brutality, devil worship and gore. The lyrics take on a poetic tack and don't combine with the music, instead being somewhat spoken (screamed?) word style against the backdrop of aggressive guitars and gut smashing percussion. Most black/speed metal fans would argue that this is expected and welcomed.

My regular listening in the metal confines usually went as far as Megadeth and old school Metallica and I usually don't listen to music this sped up and guttural. I can say for certain that Impaled Nazarene are one of the most brutal depictions of thrash and could easily shred eighty percent of the rest of the troops out there doing it and then hang for a beer with the other twenty. With twenty six tracks from their career and being their first live record, any Darkthrone, Marduk, Ritual Carnage or Gwar fan would be doing themselves a disservice for not picking up Death Comes in 26 Carefully Selected Pieces which is destined to be a defining moment of the black metal culture and sound.

Contact Information:
The End Records
Post: 331 Rio Grande #58, SLC, UT, 84101, USA
Phone: (801) 355-0963
E-Mail: ebprint@sympatico.ca
Web: www.theendrecords.com

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