Sometimes, you can hear so many shite bands that all try and desperately emulate one or two shining lights in their chosen genre that you just want to say “Fuck it, I just don’t care anymore!” and that’s the point when something worthwhile and refreshing drops through your letter box. In a genre where ambitious bands stick to the Napalm Death or Nasum blueprints, and the… um, not so ambitious stick to the Agoraphobic Nosebleed and Anal Cunt model - it’s almost like manna from heaven to hear a grind core band that doesn’t immediately sound like every other Grindcore band you’ve ever heard.
Nervous Impulse are thankfully somewhat refreshing. You can easily pick out their immediate influences - Suffocation, Napalm Death, Nasum, Dying Fetus, and Brutal Truth for example - but the band is most definitely not trying to sound like any one of them.
The ‘Intro’ for track one, for example, immediately puts you in mind of ‘Domine Non Es Dignus’ era Anaal Nathrakh, before careering headlong into the barrage of ‘Why Did You Shake Our Baby?’ that recalls Napalm Death’s recent high points while throwing in a little extra groove for good measure. ‘Lowlife Jackass’ follows a more Death Metal approach sounding like Deicide in places and Carcass in others… you know, just for a bit of variation. ‘Rockstars Faggotry’ is a strong riff led chunk of Grind that despite its ferocity maintains a solid groove throughout, and is surprisingly foot-tapping as a result. ‘Truthers’ follows on with a blast of Suffocation meets Nasum relentless drumming and strong growling vocals, over an old school Florida Death Metal riff. ‘The Bells of Immorality’ is the riff that makes this album - it’s a fine centerpiece of classic Deathgrind that sodomizes the rule book and sounds all the better for it. ‘The Collapse of Evolution’ returns to the Nasum by way of Anaal Nathrakh feel at times, for an almost Prog-Necro-Grind sound. ‘Dead Jeremians’ favours the Brutal Death path once again with a little nod to Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel for this slower chugging number that does effectively show off the range of abilities at work on this album. Oh, how I wanted ‘Blood on the Dance Floor’ to be a Grindcore version of the Michael Jackson track… but it isn’t (I don’t think), but it is just as groovy and a definite gem on the album. Finally the album closes with, ‘Pure Hate’ which, as you’d expect sounds like a straight up 80’s style Grindcore track - it’s probably the easiest track they could have written and as such feels a bit predictable.
First thing’s First, the performances on this album are fantastic - especially when taking into account there are no overdubs or effects on Eric Fiset’s vocals at all. The production, courtesy of Hugues Deslauriers, is just perfect for an album of this nature - everything is where it should be and is just polished enough to stand up against fierce competition. This is a damn good debut, and if the band could get the promotion power of a halfway decent label off the back of this I’ve no doubt they could make a name for themselves.
http://www.myspace.com/nervousimpulse
