Reviewed by Greg Sammons

Brash, brutal and blatant, Impending Doom don't just want to inflict upon us an intense and unrelenting musical landscape but one that has a message to match it. Lyrically, the album is refreshingly transparent; although sonically it may be a challenge to make most of the words out. Brook's death growls are betwixt the "cookie monster" and "pig squeal" schools of vocals. A wall of guitars back him up in true death metal fashion, making it easily one of the most brutal albums in Christendom. Only Vomitorial Corpulence can match them in Christian circles, whilst better known comparisons would be Cannibal Corpse or Aborted; both bands are cited as musical influences but lyrically are streets apart from these Californian evangelists. The opening track is a prayer of preparation, launching into "My Nemisis", one of the strongest songs on the album. The title track says it like it is and my other highlight "Silence The Oppressors" assures fellow Christians that they are the real deal: "We are the Gospel in the darkness, we bring light to a new realm, a realm you dare not enter, passing judgement behind stone walls, behind your absence of understanding. Are you listening? We'll crush the walls that dictate where our ministry goes, this is our church, this is our worship, GORSHIP!" Unless you're the world's biggest death metal fan you might find 'Nailed.Dead.Risen' a rather exhausting listen but compared against its contemporaries it's on a par with the best of them.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.