Impellitteri

Item: Crunch
Author: D_Lister

Crunch

(2000)

Reviewed by D_Lister

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Label VictorDead Zine2002

heavy metal power metal

Oh my my my! This is the Impellitteri CD I've been waiting for!

Let me start by saying I've always enjoyed the work of this band, and of course I've always respected Chris's ability to play leads at that break-neck speed. Still there was some element in their music that kept me holding at the statement of "They are a really good band" instead of "They are an amazing band." This CD takes that away.

For my money this is indeed their heaviest CD that I've heard (My catalog consists of Stand In Line, Grin and Bear It, and now Crunch.) Hands down this is a style alteration for the band, but not what you'd call a complete change. It's like the music is not quite as "polished" and that every small bit of edge, and rawness is the PERFECT addition to their music.

The vocals do indeed remain true to classic metal style but still Rob Rock seems to have more edge in his voice now. The name of the album tells you everything you need to know...CRUNCH. The music is thicker and not as polished, but don't get me wrong it's still got that extremely high quality sound that they have become known for.

One area that they have MUCH improved (in my opinion) is the drumming. My take on this is they have a new drummer in Glen Sobel who simply lays down a much heavier low end and this just flows through to the rest of the music.

I had not even heard of the comparison to White Zombie previously, but upon listening to the last track they did indeed instantly come to my mind. Not that this album sounds anything like a Zombie album, only this one track has some similarities. However if you're going to compare the vocals during the verses of track 6 to Zombie I don't see how you can avoid comparing the vocal parts and song structure of track 3 "Speed Demon" to Europe. Yes everytime I hear this song I think of some song off the latter half of The Final Countdown, just without the keys.

Get this CD and strap yourself in for the ride of your life! From the time it starts spinning until it finishes, you won't catch much of a break from these guys.

10/10