Search - Impaled Nazarene :: Death Comes in 26 Carefully Selected Pieces: Live

Douglas Hernandez | 09/04/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"What a crushing live album from these Finnish goat lovers! Even though I haven't totally liked the last few studio outputs by IN due to their inclusion of a Children of Bodom guitarist, which made their material a bit more melodic, every single song played here destroys, whether it's from a recent album or from their mighty debut. We are treated to "classics" like "Goat Perversion", "Motorpenis", "Let's Fu****ng Die" and "The Lost Art of Goat Sacrificing". Mikka's possessed screams are right on target, and the bands turbo-injected punkified, grinding black metal works to almost near perfection. The production is raw yet clear. Recorded live in their home country on December 2004 and containing 26 tracks in total (as the album's title indicates), you can't possibly go wrong here."

Grinding live interpretations of war

Murat Batmaz | Istanbul, Turkey | 12/25/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Death Comes in 26 Carefully Selected Pieces not only celebrates Finnish old school black metal band Impaled Nazarene's 15th year in their career, but it also marks the release of their first live album ever. Containing 26 tracks, the CD plays out for nearly 70 minutes and covers songs from the band's first EP to their last album All That You Fear. Recorded in their homeland in Helsinki in the end of 2004, the album demonstrates Impaled Nazarene's unmatched energy on stage with staggering guitar, bass and drum performances, and sickeningly good vocals that range from punk-infested Motorhead-like screams, deep growls, clear melodic voices, and extremely toxic black metal screaming.



Having been recorded in Finland, Mika Luttinen anounces the songs in Finnish during the show and and never speaks English except for the song titles. The audience is frantic and overjoyed, ready for the next mosh pit (and they sound drunk too), while the band performs a highly impressive show that is better than most other live black and death metal albums in both production and spontaneity. The melodically addictive guitars on the sublime opening track titled "Intro", punishingly heavy and independent bass arpeggios on pieces like "Motorpenis" and "We're Satan's Generation", and the awesome drum pattern that opens "The Endless War", the blastbeats on "Tribulation Hell" or the fantastic kick drum tone on "Sadogoat" all do a great job depicting the ultra-energetic slabs of old school black metal married with a plethora of other genres including punk, death metal, and classic rock. Speedy, blackened thrash riffs define the Finnish-sung "Kohta el Naura Enaa Jeesuskaan", while crunch and gentle melodies are squeezed into "The Endless War", a song that just cements every opinion that this album is the band's interpretation of the studio versions of their songs, creating sick atmospheres that are generated by furiously picked guitar chords on "Soul Rape" or slowly building riffs that evolve into vicious barrages of war-guitar sounds. "Goat Seeds of Doom" is a mandatory headbanging number with angry vocals, catchy hooks, and a pulverizing combo of bass and drum intensity.



Although I'm not a very big fan of all Impaled Nazarene albums, as I tend to gravitate towards the Taneli Jarva era a bit more, I feel this is essential to any fan of old school black metal."