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Impetuous Ritual - Unholy Congregation Of Hypocritical Ambivalence review



Reviewer:
8.6

30 users:
7.57
Band: Impetuous Ritual
Album: Unholy Congregation Of Hypocritical Ambivalence
Release date: April 2014


01. Verboten Genesis
02. Venality In Worship
03. Sentient Aberrations
04. Despair
05. Inservitude Of Asynchronous Duality
06. Womb Of Acrimony
07. Metastasis
08. Abhorrent Paragon
09. Blight

For all seasoned members of our beloved death metal cult, shock value isn't a thing anymore. The walls of sound are hardly impenetrable and all the pieces fall into place with ease. Our attraction towards more extreme and intricate metal is fueled by our desire to go back to that time where chaos was the norm and order was our goal. Yes, my comrades, despite what others might say: there is order in this maelstrom of visceral riffs, disturbing drumming and monstrous vocals.

For some of us, Impetuous Ritual started just as a novelty. A good novelty, but a casual one at that. The side project of the more unpalatable Portal displayed a more direct and primitive approach. Evolution was certainly not something I expected from their sophomore release. Now I stand corrected, as some new elements have arrived and Impetuous Ritual claims their well-deserved recognition as a band that is no longer a sidekick.

All the elements we came to appreciate from their debut are still here: The colossal, blurry and vast sound that can only come from the depths of pitch-black crypts. The unpredictable changes in riffs and drumming along with the throaty, whispery growls. A slightly somber atmosphere rears its ugly head this time around. You can almost call it melancholic during the slower moments (especially noticeable on the two lengthy tracks). The vocals are a bit more varied as high-pitched screams attack the listener without warning. Sometimes they can even be mistaken with the guitars, which leads me to comment on the more present guitar work in the form of alarming and chaotic solos. This came as a positive surprise to me, as they add a twist to the songs and give them more identity.

All in all, Impetuous Ritual's latest release is a morbid monster that will certainly haunt many of us for the rest of the year. Give it time and it shall reward you.

"What we call chaos is just patterns we haven't recognized. What we call random is just patterns we can't decipher. What we can't understand we call nonsense. What we can't read we call gibberish. There is no free will. There are no variables."
~ Chuck Palahniuk


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 8
Originality: 8
Production: 9





Written on 22.04.2014 by A lazy reviewer but he is so cute you'd forgive him for it.


Comments

Comments: 9   Visited by: 235 users
22.04.2014 - 20:58
J. N.
Account deleted
Definitely a step forward from the debut. Absolutely insane album.
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22.04.2014 - 21:04
Rating: 8
Ag Fox
Angel No More
I have been thinking about reviewing this baby for a few days now. You beat me to it though haha. Nice one too. I really like the oppressive atmosphere on this one. The last one felt more like on the verge of collapsing craziness, while this one feels like a never ending and all encompassing suffocation that's trying to close in on you until you give in (=
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loves 小巫
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22.04.2014 - 21:37
Lit.
Account deleted
All right, something about this isn't clicking. I did like this the first spin around, but for some reason I simply do not want to go back and listen to it. I'm still playing the debut over it.
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22.04.2014 - 23:44
Rating: 9
mz

I personally prefer this one not only over their debut, but also over anything portal has produced. The best cryptic death metal I've heard.
Nice review btw and good to see you leaving your laziness behind
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Giving my ears a rest from music.
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23.04.2014 - 00:15
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
Written by mz on 22.04.2014 at 23:44
Nice review btw and good to see you leaving your laziness behind

Heh, thanks man. I just have to keep up the pace.
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass
Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.
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23.04.2014 - 04:33
Calabi

This type of metal ain't my cup of tea, but for a second I confused Chuck Palahniuk with Chuck Schludiner and I wasn't actually that confused.
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23.04.2014 - 06:30
Cynic Metalhead
Paisa Vich Nasha
Very good review. Almost highlighted what album showcased.

First spin was mixed, quite frankly it was well impressed. Then went for some work to Indore(location in central part of India), today gotta time to spin another one.
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23.04.2014 - 14:20
theFIST

Written by mz on 22.04.2014 at 23:44

I personally prefer this one not only over their debut, but also over anything portal has produced. The best cryptic death metal I've heard.
Nice review btw and good to see you leaving your laziness behind

for me this is number 2, swarth is still my favourite
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http://metalstormmusicianscorner.bandcamp.com
Written by Warman on 07.11.2007 at 22:39
Haha, that's like saying "compose your own Metal album and upload it here, instead of writing a review of an album". :lol:
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09.11.2014 - 20:54
Susan
Smeghead
This review helped me see the "order in the chaos" so thank you

It's been a while since I picked up a new DM album and wasn't immediately getting into this one. Now I've wrapped my head around it a bit and can see color.
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"A life all mine
Is what I choose
At the end of my days"
--The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
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