Impending Doom - Death Will Reign

I have a love/hate relationship with Impending Doom. I loved There Will Be Violence. I thought it was a huge step forward and showed a lot of maturity and growth. But Baptized In Filth was lost on me. It was a step backwards in my opinion. So I was skeptical about Death Will Reign.

Death Will Reign is somewhere in the middle for me. Musically, it would fall in between There Will Be Violence and Baptized In Filth. There are elements about the record, that I'm not a huge fan of. But instantly, Death Will Reign is more enjoyable than Baptized In Filth.

Death Will Reign is just as fast as Baptized In Filth with just as many breakdowns. But it's the production on the record that sets it apart. The songs don't sound super processed or compressed to all hell. Baptized In Filth was cold and distant sounding. Death Will Reign is warm and rich sounding. Giving all the breakdowns and riffs space to grow and go somewhere. There might not be much dynamic range, but Impending Doom make use of what range they have. That warmth makes Death Will Reign sound heavier than Baptized in Filth.

Reeves takes some great vocal chances and gives his vocals a depth and emotion that I've never heard from Impending Doom before. Moments like the melodic breakdown on Rip, Tear, and Burn or the opening riffs on Hellhole and My Blood create great moments of respite from the brutal onslaught that is Impending Doom.

Impending Doom might not be bringing anything new to the table, but what they bring, they do well. Death Will Reign is a huge step up from Baptized In Filth.