From Bandcamp, “IMPALEMENT is forged out of True Metal's Passion combined with Death Metal's brutality and Black Metal's profound soul.” Hailing from Switzerland and formed in 2016, this new album is the band’s sophomore release, and has seven songs. “The Herd Marches On” is first. This is deep, cold, and fast Death Metal morphed with Black Metal riffs at times. The band also shows their level of musicianship through a glittering guitar solo and a very tight rhythm, bass, and drum section. “Dawn of Blackened Death” is another deep and punishing cut. There are also some constructs that suggest the band is well versed on songwriting, because the riffs are complicated but accessible at the same time.

“Legio Nihil” has a stronger Black Metal blueprint with elements of Death Metal sprinkled in. Listen to the speed of the drums, and the speed of the picked guitar riffs…they are almost incomprehensibly fast. “The Old Ones” has a steadier groove and the thickness of the drums drives much of the sound together with the riffs. So far, the band manages to keep thing interesting in a genre whose boundaries are quite narrow. “Will to Power” is a shorter song jam packed with sonority to the point where you can’t even get a breath in. “Death to the Gods” is a more traditional Death Metal song with a heavy, brutal riff that with every handstroke, seems like it is smashing you further and further into the earth.

“Chosen by Tragedy” closes the album; a nine-minute beast where the band can display both their songwriting and musicianship prowess. I love how it morphs back and forth between the dark shadow of Black Metal and the punishment of Death Metal. There are even some depressive sounds here, and the ending sequence of ran and clean guitars reflects the title of the song. Overall, this was a very strong album steeped in the traditions of both genres, but with a modern sound as well. The band plays very confidently, and shoves their sound down your throat with a deep smile.