Impending Doom

On Baptized in Filth, Impending Doom exhibit every deathcore cliché. Emmure-esque squeals? Check. Eerie-sounding notes over chugs? Check. An abundance of breakdowns? Check. Some blast beats to validate the "death" part of the genre? Check. Normally adhering to one's genre's conventions wouldn't be particularly noteworthy, but after Impending Doom's over-the-top flirtations with melody on their last album, There Will Be Violence, the return to form is refreshing. But for a group that stick so loyally to their genre's norms, they throw a confusing curveball on "My Light Unseen." The track, which features Demon Hunter vocalist Ryan Clark, seemingly borrowed his whole band, as it sounds like one of Demon Hunter's softer numbers. Though the track is one of the stronger offerings on the album, its emotional heft sounds out of place surrounded by the musical pummelling of the remainder of the record. Though not a stimulating or necessary addition to a genre that has already been perfected, Baptized in Filth is a good addition to Impending Doom's canon, and a heavy one at that.