(written by Islander)
The musical trajectory of Nashville’s Act of Impalement has been intriguing (and scary) to observe. Their 2018 debut album Perdition Cult (released by Unspeakable Axe) quickly proved they could pull off a whole lot of monstrous magic acts, veering from one parcel of extreme influences to another without losing their footing.
Their second album Infernal Ordinance (their first one on Caligari Records), was more focused, less likely than their debut to throw listeners off-balance but still packed with thrilling and chilling variations. As one writer put it, that album was “akin to a morbid melting pot of Cianide, Bolt Thrower, Prophecy of Doom, and Archgoat.”
And now we have Act of Impalement‘s third album Profane Alter on the way, again to be ushered toward us by Caligari Records. It’s introduced on behalf of the label with these reference points:
Though still drawing from the likes of Autopsy, Incantation, and of course Cianide, Act of Impalement‘s third album is a filthy & finely honed assault of bestial death metal, drawing more inspiration from the likes of Belgium’s Possession, Finland’s Belial, and ever more Archgoat.
What we have for you today is the second song to be disgorged from Profane Altar, the vividly and accurately named “Piercing the Heavens“.
In one very fell swoop Act of Impalement malignantly maraud, brutally batter, and do indeed pierce the heavens with jubilantly deranged violence.
Grim, gruesome, and thickly grimy, the riffing voraciously swarms and wickedly writhes while the deeply subterranean bass throbs and the drums thunder like the storm god’s hammer, as foul gutturals regurgitate the words and mad screams incinerate them.
The riffage slashes and flares upward like vicious ecstasies and also sounds like a demonic warzone as the rhythm section go to war at cavernous depth. Within these conflicts, the music also manages to sound like agonies unpure and grandeur most hideous.
The song doesn’t last long, but long enough to sink its bloody hooks in listeners’ brains — which is to say the experience is quickly addictive as well as fiendishly exhilarating.
PROFANE ALTAR is:
Ethan Rock (guitars, vocals)
Aaron Hortman (drums)
Jerry Garner (bass)
Caligari Records will release Profane Altar on February 28th, on CD and cassette tape formats. Find pre-orders via the link below.
Also below we’ve included a stream of the first track extracted from the album, “Deities of the Weak“. More than twice as long as the track we’ve just premiered, it shows off even more of Act of Impalement‘s deliciously hideous capabilities.
Part tank attack, part lumbering beast, part feeding frenzy, it sounds cold and fetid but also savagely cruel and frighteningly supernatural. It’s also so heavy and turbulent that if played loud enough it might shiver your foundations into fragments.
PRE-ORDER:
https://caligarirecords.bandcamp.com/album/profane-altar
MORE INFO:
https://www.facebook.com/actoofimpalement
https://www.facebook.com/caligarirecords
https://www.caligarirecords.com
No Responses to “ACT OF IMPALEMENT: “PIERCING THE HEAVENS””