Reviewed by Peter John Willoughby

There are many different sub-genres within the metal scene. Not content with being labelled 'deathcore', Impending Doom came up with their own one called "gorship". Now this needs clarifying as gorship is about worshiping God through gore sounding music; not actually worshiping gore! Impending Doom are from California and comprises Brook Reeves (vocals), Cory Johnson (guitar), David Sittig (bass) and Brandon Trahan (drums). As you might expected the lyrical content is as brutal as the music "We are the voice for the voiceless among unholy kingdoms drunk with blasphemy/We are continents wide and oceans deep/The blood of the saints is splashed across the ruins like a holy holocaust/We will return and you will hear an uproar of lost souls/There will be violence! There will be violence!" It is worth noting that the death metal vocals on their previous release have matured here into deep growling. Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying contributes guest vocals to 'Orphans'. Brook states "This song goes out to the castaway children and to the ones that this world deems unworthy of love. God's heart is for those who are broken and for those who want to be restored. "Orphans come home the kingdom is yours." The songs tend to chug along and then suddenly their new drummer, Brandan, pulls out all the stops on "The Great Fear" with such rapid intensity that it leaves you breathless. It features guest vocals by Vincent Bennett of The Acacia Strain. There is a short respite in the form of a mid-paced instrumental "Love Has Risen" and then it's back to deathcore chugging. They end with "Sweating Blood", which revisits the same theme as they started with, namely that Christians will be persecuted for their faith in the end times.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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