Nearly two decades into their career, Singapore's
Impiety have lost none of their devotion to inexorably violent, full-steam-ahead black metal; their only noticeable concession to maturity or experience emerging through the tightly regimented execution and relatively clean production displayed by recent efforts, including 2008's
Dominator. Presented in striking artwork depicting a battalion of marauding zombie horsemen outfitted in Samurai battle gear,
Dominator's opening snippet, "Introbliteration," does a fine job of illustrating this imagery (clanging swords, cavalry charges, etc.) before the expected buzzsaw guitar attack and blastbeat percussion blitz come into play, leading straight into the devastating "Slaughterror Superiority." Distinguished by vocalist Shyaithan's raw-throated chants of "Worship war, Praise Satan!" the track defines not only
Impiety's single-minded ethos, but that of much that is considered "trve" or "cvlt" black metal, making it virtually impossible for subsequent storm-blasts like the merciless "At War with Temujin" and the dynamically one-dimensional title cut to stack up. Die-hard black metal enthusiasts would likely have it no other way, though, and
Impiety's spirited cover of
Sarcofago's perennial black metal favorite, "Black Vomit," ultimately reminds us that Singapore's, ahem...finest, are bound to stay just as the devil made them -- love it or hate it.