12th January 2022

Review: “Hellbent” by Impending Doom

It’s been three years since their last confession in 2018s “The Sin and Doom Vol. II” and the revolving door of musicians in Riverside Californian Deathcore act Impending Doom shows no sign of relenting with vocalist Brook Reeves the only mainstay. He’s joined by guitarist Manny Contreras and bassist David Sittig who recorded with engineer Joseph Calleiro at Dungeon By The Sea in Los Angeles California before the EP was mixed by Will Putney (Body Count, Knocked Loose, Thy Art Is Murder) with the band promising five cuts that cross violent Death Metal with Grindcore and Hardcore to warn of the destruction of mankind…

Picking up where their last record left off, the sonic oblivion that is opening cut “Satanic Panic” sounds very much like Impending Doom playing a Deathcore cover of a “Dark Days” era Coal Chamber track with sinister vibes as Reeves embraces some Dez Farfara isms that are totally unexpected but work surprisingly well in the heavier context. That continues into “New World Horror” with some evil sounding spoken word parts as surrounded by a shroud of darkness in the form of tight breakdowns and battery acid nauseous churning riffage alongside huge sounding drums, the curious thing is that Andrew Holzbaur was said to be the bands drummer in 2019 however is not referenced as a band member. So if it is him gracing the drum stool or not is unknown, but either way the drum sound is sublime so hats off to however it is, they’ve done a fantastic job. What Impending Doom do really well here is atmosphere, never afraid to whisper before the next blood curdling roar while keeping it strictly heavy, only the title track “Hellbent” breaking that in part by introducing some meloncholic lead tones to the absolute crush of the rest which at times sounds like Carnifex on steroids with some perhaps unnecessary programming adding in a different texture to the sound. Rap screams at the start of “I Must End” bring back a Nu-Deathcore sensibility with menacing chunky stuccato riffage and an eerie haunting atmospheric in the background. A fierce ending to a record that does everything that their last one did but a little bit better and is only perhaps lacking a couple of real gut punch moments to elevate it from a blunt force trauma to a sharper implement of destruction [7.5/10]

Track listing