Artist: Imperanon
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Release Date: 6/15/04
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Title: Stained Artist: Imperanon Label: Nuclear Blast Records Release Date: 6/15/04 |
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Abyss's Review:
Would you believe there's another band from Finland that sounds just like Children of Bodom? Well Imperanon are the latest. And just like all the others, they are very talented musicians that lack their own identity. It's hard to put down a record that has so much obvious effort put into it, but at the same time, the band must expect this type of criticism - after all, they did start out as a Children of Bodom cover band.
"One word review: Bodomlicious!" This band is still relatively young, so it is entirely possible that they might grow into their own sound, but they will have a lot of ground to cover to get there. While a band like a href="kalmah_swampsong.html" target="main">Kalmah can (barely) get away with just citing COB as an influence, Imperanon have used that band not as a template, but as a stencil. They have imitated almost everything. From the song structures, to the keyboard sound (and overuse of said instrument), to the production choices, the entire record screams Bodom. I would assume anyone with the level of dexterity that these guys possess must spend a significant portion of their lives studying music, and if that's the case, you would expect some other influences to shine through, but that just isn't the case.
However, if you're not averse to listening to a band that is so blatantly ripping off someone else's sound, you will most likely find this band very enjoyable. They write well-structured material that is relatively easy to listen to, and the songs bounce by at an even pace. They utilize clean vocals more often as the disc goes by, and are largely successful. There are even female vocals on the song "Shadowsouls," which I originally thought was a terrible song, but now I think I like it the best. It takes a little getting used to because the female vocals sound more like that of an eight-year old boy than that of a young woman. This is initially very distracting, but I kind of like the unique sound (let's face it, I've heard hundreds of female vocals in metal, but never really one that sounded like one of those kids from Star Search). The song is over the top in its cheesiness, and (although I'm not exactly proud to admit it) dammit if it hasn't suckered me in a little bit.
In conclusion, I can't really recommend this album, but it probably deserves better press than it will get. These guys have come out with a solid release, unfortunately they were almost a decade too late. One word review: Bodomlicious!
Death's Review:
Children of Bodom are definitely up and coming and there is a killer buzz going within the U.S. underground. They are definitely poised to break. So it is no surprise (although perhaps a year or two earlier than I had expected) that we are starting to hear bands that sound like C.O.B. I’ve heard this influence creeping into a lot of new releases lately. For example, the new Illogicist record has a lot of Chuck Schuldiner in its sound, but it also has a bit of C.O.B. Impernanon, however, are pretty much straight C.O.B. Of course this means that they are killer musicians. But the songwriting, while good, falls noticeably short of the fun anthems Bodom are churning out. And while the keys and guitar solos in Impernanon match up nicely and engage in some impressive gynastics, they doin’t all out rip with the fire and the passion and the dirty rock-n-roll fury of C.O.B.
"These guys are obviously killer players." OK, so enough of the C.O.B. comparison. Impernanon have some other aspects. There are clean and female vocals in places. These generally work, but the singing sometimes falls a half note flat on some of the female high notes. But I just can’t escape the feeling that I’ve been here before with better results. These guys are obviously killer players. This is a debut album. So I expect them to evolve and get better, to grow into their own sound, and come back in a few years to slay us. When they do, I’m sure I’ll be giving them five skull reviews. For now, they only get three.
Hel's Review:
It is almost unbearably tempting to just refer to Imperanon as Children of Bodom Redux – so similar is their style to the music we are accustomed to receiving from their Finnish predecessors. They also have in common stunning musical talent. The press release indeed contains multiple references to Children of Bodom, including that the band was “strongly influenced” by them. Yes, I’d have to say they were.So the questions you are probably asking at this point are: 1) are they any different than Children of Bodom, and 2) are they as good as COB? The answer to the first question is yes, sort of, and it is in the way they try to distinguish themselves that cause the answer to the second question to be no, they are not. The primary reason they fail to be called “as good as” can be pinpointed in two tracks: “Hollow Man” and “Shadowsouls.” “Hollow Man” includes the sole instance of clean male vocals on the record, and while it is understandable, based on current trends, that they would try this out, this voice is not as strong as the death vocals. In my opinion, they should have just skipped it.
"If you are utterly addicted to Children of Bodom and crave music in the same vein and as well performed, then Imperanon is the band you’ve been dying for." But where it all falls apart for me is on “Shadowsouls” when they decided to include a female “vocalist” – not a bad idea in concept, but they chose a poor singer. At the very end of her “performance,” I cannot help but wonder if that last noise is supposed to be an actual note – it is so shrill. This woman’s voice, if you’d call it that, makes me cringe. Their press clues me in that they are Sinergy fans, and I can understand why they would try to include female vocals, but I fail to understand why they would choose this particular female…
If it were not for these two tracks, I may well have decided that they were trying a bit too hard to follow in COB’s footsteps, but that they are young and have truly done an amazing job of doing so. However, to my ears, while these two tracks do achieve the goal of making the album stand out as being more than a COB clone, they weaken the album instead of distinguishing it. It is for “Shadowsouls” in particular that I feel the need to knock an entire skull off of their score.
Now, there’s nothing at all wrong with idolizing a certain band, or with patterning your style after theirs. But in doing so, it is inevitable you will be held up next to that band and scrutinized in the light they cast. In this case, it is a very bright light indeed. In truth, this is a strong four skull record with one weak and one bad song. I hope with their next effort they will be content to distinguish themselves through their songwriting and fully utilize their strengths, as they did on most of this album. If you are utterly addicted to Children of Bodom and crave music in the same vein and as well performed, then Imperanon is the band you’ve been dying for.
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