Impaled Nazarene "Nihil" CD

When you have a guitarist like Alexi Laiho in the line up you might be quite sure about what you can find inside the sound. Impaled Nazarene started officially their way to a more mature and speed/thrash influenced sound but this doesn’t mean it’s that good like in the past. If the previous releases, especially the first two, displayed a massive, brutal dosage of punk influenced black metal, the new albums are a bit different structured and conceived.
Since the opener “Cogito Ergo Sum” we can find more melodic lines and a melodic solo. The production is clear and far more polished than in the past, leaving a bit the obscurity path to embrace sharper sounds. The following “Human Proof” has always lead guitar lines under the rhythmic ones and they are more melodic than in the past. Even if the tempo on these songs is not slow, the brutality, that sheer brutality of the first efforts, is not represented that well anymore. Yes, the band is always pissed off in some parts but the things are different.
Maybe the only one who is still on the same way is the singer, Mika, who through his voice is always able to create scenarios from hell. The screams are always very good and black metal oriented. Fortunately “Wrath of the Goat” is furious, on blast beats and it’s very short. The punk/black influences are here again to recreate a vision of hell. “Angel Rectums still Bleed-The Sequel” is faster and shows just some more melodic drops in a sea of brutality. “Post Eclipse Era” is less impulsive in some parts where features darker lines by the guitars; the other sections are full of fast paced restarts.
“Nothing is Sacred” and “Zero Tolerance” are full of that old school style by this band and fortunately the melodic solos by Alexi don’t overwhelm the classic brutality of these compositions. They are not band, even if they are new in this sound and they can be seen as a “betrayal” for the old fans. The fast, pen chords guitars riffage is still present in “Assault of the Weak” but this time the melodic lines are added without a sense, like something that wants to overcome the brutality at all cost. Well, it’s the behaviour of Alexi that follows the same style…
“How the Laughter Died” is doomish for the tempo but the riffs are present and constant. The dissonant riffs are a bit shabby, weak and derivative. The more canonical parts are better even if the progression of this band in terms of songwriting is well displayed also here. “Nihil” is quite good because through the lead lines, the will to create a hellish scenario has been achieved. The tempo is generally faster on this track even if not like in the past. What we hear here is a quite good work by a band that left a bit the old style to embrace more melodic passages.
If the first albums shined for originality, these ones are more “technical” for sure, but here it’s an example of how much the technique doesn’t count that much when you have less ideas. Yes, apart from the new way they chose, this album has less memorable parts and the brutality lacks a bit in some parts. This is the true beginning of a new era for Impaled Nazarene.

Official sample video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...