Review: Endtime ‘Impending Doom’
I haven’t watched many old black and white horror movies but that will change and as I watch, Endtime’s debut album Impending Doom will be the soundtrack, much like Dark Side of the Moon can be for Wizard of Oz. The band weave in elements of old school horror with ease and it’s the first thing I thought of when I listened to this album.
I’ll give you three guesses where Endtime is from. I’ll wait…Oh, you guessed Sweden correctly first try. I say it a lot but the amount of epic doom and stoner rock from that part of the world is mind-blowing. Endtime is added to that legendary list of bands. The promo notes also had the perfect description for them, ‘Endtime are the music equivalent to a nuclear blast.’
Harbinger Of Disease begins with a spoken word intro backed by music that I’d imagine would be in Nosferatu if it had sound. A few short seconds later and that nuclear blast of riffs hit hard. The slow and heavy, they pay homage to Sabbath that started it all. Guitarists Joppe Ebbeson and Daniel Johansson lay down some epic riffs while meshing their tones perfectly. It’s a typical doom song but it’s a fantastic opener and makes you want more.
An old news broadcast of war starts off the next track, followed by explosive music once again. Christian Chatfield’s distorted vocals join in immediately adding to the intensity of ICBM. The chanting vocals and powerful riffs subside for a minute with feedback and distant fuzzed riffs. It’s almost like a wartime siren ringing out before the battle breaks, which kicks back in at around four and a half minutes as the song concludes with the same power it started.
Slow heavy riffs with driving drums and screaming vocals…
I’ll bring up the promo notes yet again but this time it says, ‘They don’t believe in groove, and they don’t believe in swing.’ While that may be true for the most part, They Live starts off with a rather groovy beat in my opinion. The heavy isn’t far behind however and Black Magician’s album Nature Is The Devil’s Church from Shaman Recordings comes to mind while listening. They share the same intensity, and the growling vocals are equally as epic.
Cities On Fire With The Burning Flesh Of Men is a pretty straightforward heavy song. Slow heavy riffs with driving drums and screaming vocals all make up for a great song but toward the end, the song calms down a bit and adds in some interesting middle eastern sounds (I can’t quite put my finger on what the instrument it is) that leads into an explosive instrumental that’s held down by Nicke Björnör and Afshin ’Affe’ Piran on drums and bass respectively. It’s another good example of volume turned up to 11, but the two lock into the groove keeping your headbanging.
The haunting music returns with Living Graves to close the album, again Black Magician comes to mind with the creepy organ supporting powerful riffs in their closing song Chattox. Endtime uses the organ to paint a picture of horror and immediately show their power is still there by blowing out the speakers. This is my favorite on the album, shocking I know that I love the closing song, but Endtime wraps up that horror theme nicely and I particularly love the guitar tone, specifically at the three-minute mark when the drums, bass, and vocals fade out. It has the perfect breakup to my ears. The song concludes with tremendous noise as if a bomb has gone off which ties into the nuclear blast of music.
If Endtime’s debut makes as powerful a mark in the community as the music held within the sleeves, then we will be talking about this band for years to come. Impending Doom was released March 4th through the almighty Heavy Psych Sounds and getting picked up by that label alone should make you want to check out this awesome album.
Label: Heavy Psych Sounds
Band Links: Facebook | Instagram
Scribed by: Josh Schneider