IMPIOUS

Here's one novel way to make people want to buy your physical CD, instead of downloading your album — make it a concept album, and then print the lyrics in the form of dialogue bubbles in a comic! The story, a twisted tale of murder, redemption and, well, more murder, is standard-issue graphic novel potboiler fare, but its presentation in the booklet is a pretty slick idea, and it definitely fleshes out the experience of "Holy Murder Masquerade", one of the few death metal concept albums in existence.

IMPIOUS have always been one of those bands that you wish had come around a few years earlier, so that their exuberant, vicious Swedish death metal attack wouldn't get lost in the shuffle so much. Their previous album, "Hellucinate", remains underrated, and it takes little time to realize how immediate and catchy the songs on "Holy Murder Masquerade" are. It's a slightly less intense record, with numerous slow and midtempo parts, which help move the storyline along and provide a nice dynamic. Fear not, there are still plenty of blistering moments of thrashy abandon (see the raucous "T.P.S". with its headbanging ENTOMBED style riff, or the speedy "Death on Floor 44" and "Everlasting Punishment"),but there are also moments of brooding, doomy dirge ("Dark Closure", the title track) and a more restrained, pummeling twin-lead chug (see the excellent "Bloodcraft").

Of course, as well crafted as it is, the music of IMPIOUS is still fairly unremarkable Swedish death metal, the likes of which we've been bombarded with for years now. It's a fair question to ask if the band really rise above those that came before them — "Holy Murder Masquerade" is satisfying, but may not have a lot of staying power, even with the added hook of the story line. And speaking of this, while the album doesn't dip into too many episodes with actors and sound effects, these are a bit corny and overdone, especially the "Slaughtertown Report" interlude — ironically, even as the concept album angle gets the band more attention, its clumsy execution is a big distraction from the metal at hand. Thankfully, these interludes are brief and can be easily ignored or skipped.

IMPIOUS ply the craft of unadulterated Swedish death metal, and if they're not an especially innovative band, they make up for that by being viciously consistent and dependably solid. "Holy Murder Masquerade" delivers the buzzsaw riffing, killer solos, brutal vocals and neck-snapping tempos that satisfy – and they spin a mean yarn, too.