It’s taken a minute, but Imminence have finally realised what makes them special. The Swedes’ four studio albums so far have seen them tinker with overly polished production and the kind of atmospheric metalcore Architects left behind six years ago (2021’s solid, albeit repetitive Heaven In Waiting bore more than a passing resemblance to Sam Carter and co), but with The Black, they’ve taken a step forward.
This is the quartet’s darkest, most varied and heaviest album by some margin. Super talented vocalist Eddie Berg is Imminence’s most consistent element, and he puts in a powerhouse performance here, with Desolation and Heaven Shall Burn showing off every aspect of his lows, cleans and screams. Even more effective, though, is the band’s decision to pepper these songs with more extreme influences. Doomy opener Come Hell Or High Water is a real change of pace and tone for the band and ends in a hail storm of blastbeats. They take it a step further on Come What May which goes hell for leather in its verses. The violin playing of talented vocalist Eddie Berg has always been a potent weapon in the band’s arsenal, but on The Black, the band have put it front and centre more than ever to stunning effect. On the title track, where mournful, haunted strings merge with vicious drums, a choir and Eddie’s tortured screams, the result is nothing short of a symphonic Armageddon.
At times the band are still swamped by their influences, most particularly on the synth-heavy Death By A Thousand Cuts and The Call Of The Void, which still recall Holy Hell-era Architects, but those moments are becoming more and more rare. Closing with the fully instrumental Le Noir, for the first time, it feels like Imminence are, for the most part, creating something truly unique.
The Black is out this Friday, April 12
