I think Impressions In Blood is really just an in-band joke. Peter et al wanted to see how many times they could get away with playing the same boring riff on one album and still have people suck their balls. I read a bunch of reviews saying how great the album is and how it’s their best release in years but the only similarities between the reviews I read and my thoughts on the album are as follows: the album in question is Impressions In Blood by the band Vader.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some strong moments here and there but on the whole, the album is extremely monotonous. Listening to the album from start to finish without skipping any tracks is quite a chore. The guitars sound very good with the thick, ballsy production but the song writing is so repetitive and stale that after you hear the same riff played for the fortieth time you just want to break the CD to make it stop. The drumming of Daray, who is now the permanent skinsman after Doc was given the boot and passed away in 2005, is very impressive. Anyone who can blast that hard and fast for as long as he does deserves three thumbs up but this is also his downfall as there is nothing at all memorable about his performance. There is little to no variation in the drumming and so the constant blasting just blends into the wall of guitars, further adding to the monotony. The vocals sound like a constipated and strained David Vincent, and generally come across as weak and ultimately annoying.

Something that left me feeling a little discombobulated were the occasional "tribal" sounding beats that feature on a couple of tracks. I’m not sure if they are there to please Slipknot fans but they don’t add anything at all to the music and sound a bit like an afterthought. There are also some orchestral synth arrangements that are worked into the mix quite well, not dissimilar to Opeth, but like the aforementioned beats, they aren’t really needed.

If you are a fan of Vader, you will love Impressions In Blood. If you are only mildly interested, then download a couple of mp3s, repeat them 11 times and you pretty much have the whole CD. Written By: Rohan