Reviewed by Ben Martin

Hailing from California, Impending Doom took the world of Christian metal by storm in 2007 with the release of 'Nailed. Dead. Risen.' as they brought mainstream Christian hard music to a new level of brutality. 'The Serpent Servant' gives a much more refined and produced sound than the debut release and with a tighter sound - mainly due to production quality - and a new vocal style that seems, at least to this listener, to have left their original gore/straight death metal sound, complete with inhales and pig squeals, in favour of what you might call a more popular sound. Thankfully, this does not really detract from the quality and with songs like "Anything Goes", "More Than Conquerors" and "In The House Of Mourning" blowing the speakers apart. I will say though that 'The Serpent Servant' isn't an album that I can listen to from beginning to end as there seems to be little variation, a problem that many have noticed within the deathcore scene in general. Lyrically they are as strong as ever, with challenging and sometimes even confrontational lyrics and the band are not ashamed to speak their mind. We wait with baited breath for what their next release will bring.

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.

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