HM-2 pedals, de-tuned guitars, and bouncy riffs do not a death metal masterpiece make. Impurity, however, leverage those base tools of the old-school to create something worthy. Although I cherish those early eruptions of Swedish death metal, I'm not a devotee of the “Sunlight Sound.” That sonic template brings haphazard and clumsy commercialization to mind more than anything else.
Impurity are, in fact, from Sweden. The Eternal Sleep was, in fact, recorded at Sunlight Studio. It is death metal in THAT style. Even the inimitable Dan Swano was involved in the album's mastering. Setting that all aside, The Eternal Sleep doth rip. Its riffs embody the terrifying, roiling might of an avalanche on the one hand, and the the big bouncy castle stomps you'd expect on the other. All the tools of trade are deployed, including a walk to the precipice of melody with a few sinister wisps sailing off into satisfying consonance. The battery has the professional bombast to drive these tunes to the edge of danceability. I mean, are we sure this isn't a new Dismember album?
The Eternal Sleep doesn't move the form forward at all, such as Bloodbath or Horrendous have done in recent times. But it's just fucking succulent. As Corpsegrinder might implore, "fire up the chainsaw."
