Artist: Impaled
Label: Deathvomit Records
Release Date: 7/2/02
|
|
Title: Mondo Medicale Artist: Impaled Label: Deathvomit Records Release Date: 7/2/02 |
Judgment Committee Reviews | Rating |
|
5 | ||
|
3 | ||
|
5 | ||
|
|
Go to Reader Reviews | ||
Abyss's Review:
I've been waiting for this one for a while. I was a big fan of their last gore splattered release, Dead Shall Dead Remain, and I became an even bigger fan once I was given the treat of seeing them live. I must admit, I'm not the biggest gore metal guru out there. I like it, because it's basically death metal, but I don't pay much attention to the lyrics. However, Impaled make me bang my head and snicker at the same time. They have the perfect attitude and sense of humor for gore metal, and that's why they are my favorite in the genre. Not since Carcass has a band been this much fun to listen to and read through the lyrics.
"It gives me the willies, but I also find it wildly entertaining (like seeing Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob together)." I love the thrashy take on death metal that this band utilizes, combining levels of brutality and hook that keep one coming back for more. The guitar lines are technically superior to their last album, but played loosely most of the time, giving the album a laid back feel at times. Lyrically, dispersed throughout the blood, feces and lymph, is an actual concept centering on what happens to the patient after the anesthetic is administered (if you think it's just good ol' fun molestation, you're wrong). It is at times disturbing and at times hilarious, and it culminates at the end of the album with a well done dialogue depicting a doctor's lecture to his colleagues while the patient starts to become conscious. It gives me the willies, but I also find it wildly entertaining (like seeing Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob together). This is unusual for me, as I usually detest these types of gimmicks, but here it's scripted and performed so well that I find it adding to the already impressive music. I feel this album solidifies Impaled as the best gore metal band out there right now.
Songs like "Operating Theater," "Raise the Stakes" and "The Worms Crawl In" are my current favorites, but I have a feeling this is the type of album in which my favorite tracks will alternate. I keep trying to put into words my thoughts regarding this album and only one word comes up over and over. Fun. This album is just damn fun. Like when a fat person falls down-- it just puts a smile on your face.
"When the tough get goring the goring get Impaled." Of course, many of you out there might think it's a little too juvenile for your tastes, but the way I see it, metal is juvenile. There is a definite resistance to grow up throughout the genre, it's in identifying this and being able not to take ourselves so seriously that the real fun comes in. Sure there's a time for serious metal, and there's a time for angry metal (...there is a season. Burn, Burn, Burn), and there is a time for gore metal. And when the tough get goring the goring get Impaled. One word review: (Hella) Fun.
Death's Review:
Impaled are back. The new album, Mondo Medicale, is another fine dose of modern, post-Kreator, post-CarcassSan Francisco death-thrash-grind by way of old Swedish death like At the Gatesand filtered through the modern extreme metal scene. Sometimes it is hard to believe how much the vocals here remind me of Mille, but to dismiss Impaled as a straight "Kreator by way of Carcass" clone is definitely missing the point. While Impaled might not necessarily be breaking new ground, they are surely thrashing all over the old one, spreading their brand of gore-splattered headbanging to a new generation. It is nice to see a band from the Bay Area kick this much ass in 2002. This is a worthy follow-up to 2000's Dead Shall Dead Remain.
"While Impaled might not necessarily be breaking new ground, they are surely thrashing all over the old one."
Rest assured, the goofy imagery which is so much a part of these SF death/thrash/grind outfits (think Exhumed, Impaled) is intact. But, as the Necropolis Records web site touts, this Impaled have "[taken] their incisive sound from butchery to surgery." Yes, this one is about the horrors of medicine (however without the Carcass-style terminology in the song titles). Perhaps the next Impaled will take on dentistry, always a favorite "haunted house/horror" subject. No matter. Impaled have the riffs and the passion to crush your skull, regardless of the subject matter. Watch for them on tour with Decapitated, Incantation and Vehemence this summer.
"Impaled have the riffs and the passion to crush your skull, regardless of the subject matter."
Hel's Review:
The first thing you always need to keep in mind when listening to any Impaled release is this: it's a fucking joke!! Not the music, mind you - that, in fact, is no laughing matter. However, the lyrical topics are exactly that. They're funny in that bad horror movie kind of way. So, if you don't find it funny, well, I'm betting you just don't get it.
"The first thing you always need to keep in mind when listening to any Impaled release is this: it's a fucking joke!!"
"In any event, this is a record to piss your neighbors off with, in the most enjoyable fashion possible." But the music is what truly matters, and it is truly the reason to run right out and buy this record. While I cannot pull out their last record for the sake of comparison, I clearly recall that it ruled, and this one does as well. Overall, it is chaotic death metal, but these boys clearly grew up on Bay area thrash, and you can hear those influences in their music as well.
I could go on and on about how great I think this record is, but, as is the problem with writing about music in general, you won't be able to truly appreciate it until it is cranked loudly on your stereo. Mine stereo is in a box right now, so if you could kindly do me the favor of turning it up another notch, perhaps I could hear it on your stereo too? In any event, this is a record to piss your neighbors off with, in the most enjoyable fashion possible. I highly recommend everything and anything by Impaled to all death fiends.
[- Metal Judgment Home -] [- Email Metal Judgment -]
©1999 Metal Judgment. All rights reserved.