Review: “Deadweight” by Immurge

As with most debut records, “Deadweight” is the culmination of several years of hard work and dedication from Idaho Deathcore fuelled outfit Immurge as they took songs written for playing live to producer Brogun Allen at Nightowl Studios, lyrically covering topics of religion, drug addiction and the end of the World as we know it across seven cuts for seven deadly sins. The band share influences in Deathcore, Metalcore and Nu-Metal with drummer Gabe Hodges, vocalist Josh Meyer and guitarists Kameron Hamer and Steven Andrews looking to bring the heat and make a name for themselves…

…seven tracks in 19 minutes should tell you that Immurge have a couple of short ones on their debut EP and after the title track that is an atmospheric introduction, “Begin” is where the fun really starts. Hodges is metronomic, clinical and as accurate as a laser guided missile to the point that you might question whether his percussive battery is real or programmed by the matrix while the guitarist duo bring some seriously chunky riffs to the plate with moments that sound so dense they could well belong on “Alien” by Northlane, particularly on “New Way“. That’s a vicious little ditty that has staccato riff breaks galore with some atmospheric chills before something that approaches downtempo in a cut glass finale. The programming in “Ruiner” is as cold as ice, showcasing another element the band have in their arsenal while deliberately being reserved in nature rather than flooding the track so that it’s a tasteful addition instead of a driving force. Meyer has impressive vocal range and mixes it up across these cuts, a Metallic Hardcore style bark his mainstay but able to touch the void as far as larynx threatening Slam territory if he so desires. It’s as if Mat Bruso from Bury Your Dead and Tom Barber from Chelsea Grin co-exist in the same body and you could be forgiven for thinking that there were multiple vocalist on some of these cuts, especially “Payday” which sees the Nu-Metal influence rise to the surface with some vinyl scratching and introspective moments, the unhinged finale being straight out of 1999. If you’ve heard the EP “1135” by Brand Of Sacrifice side project Earthshatter then that particular cut is along similar lines sonically at least, the difference being the ferociously brutal vocals. The mission of writing a record of cuts that are going to go down a storm live has been accompanied, it’s easy to see how they’re going to be faster, harder and more ferocious when they hit the stage [7.5/10]

Track listing

  1. Deadweight
  2. Begin
  3. New Way
  4. Ruiner
  5. Payday
  6. Delusion
  7. End

Deadweight” by Immurge is out 12th January 2021

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