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Review: Sacrilegious Impalement - III - Lux Infera
Sacrilegious Impalement
www.facebook.com/sacrilegiousimpalement.official
III - Lux Infera

Label: Woodcut Records
Year released: 2013
Duration: 45:35
Tracks: 9
Genre: Black Metal

Rating:
4.25/5


Review online: July 11, 2013
Reviewed by: Sargon the Terrible
Readers' Rating
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Rated 3.5/5 (70%) (18 Votes)
Review

Sacrilegious Impalement produced a great little slab of Black metal with their self-titled EP back in 2007, but after that they seemed to kind of go off the rails. Their debut full-length was a dull Black/Death wannabe recording and their last disc was the completely boring Exalted Spectres. So I was not expecting anything good out of this, their third studio recording.

Thankfully, Sacrilegious Impalement seem to have gotten their shit together. Lux Infera is miles from the stripped-down raw BM of their EP, but is instead a big, sprawling epic more in the style of Secrets of the Moon, mid-period Enslaved, or even Nightbringer. This is an album of big songs packed with heavy, expansive riffs and ambitious arrangements. This album could be tighter, but the genuine aggression wedded to shredding, atonal melodies carries this disc past any looseness on the compositions. New guy Wrathprayer is their third vocalist in as many albums, and his harsh yet controlled gravel-gargling is light years beyond the dull burbling of former frontman Hellwind.

The production has also taken a big leap, as rather than the muffled sound of the last album, Lux Infera sounds big, solid, and cold as fuck. The instruments all get their place, and the guitar sound is a nicely hard-edged tone with some bite. The playing is rock-solid and the leads are actually really good.

In all, this is a huge jump over and above their past two disappointing albums. While they have left the raw assault of their EP days behind, they have finally found a new sound of their own that marries their aggression to melodic hooks and a genuine epic songwriting approach. Fans of more melodic and cerebral BM will devour this, but even if your tastes run harsh, Sacrilegious Impalement may be harsh enough to grab you. A fine album.

More about Sacrilegious Impalement...
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Review: II - Exalted Spectres (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Review: IV - Infinite Victor (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Review: Sacrilegious Impalement (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
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