You won't hear harmonium on this album, because it fucking died! Reports say that the band were rehearsing and simply pumped it way too heavily and aggressively. Good ol' Farting Bertha couldn't take it anymore...

Germany's Harmony Dies do a bit different Berlin school (their home metropolis): Neck-snapping death metal! The band formed in 1992, and on their first go, released four demos, three albums, three splits and an EP. That's a respectable run, if you ask me. This was the last release of that bunch.

'Impact ' was my first touch with the band, though. When I did hit the play button, I was teleported back to early 1990s. I'm a simple guy, and often do not enjoy changes in good old things. Why? Because in many cases they do not work, but break a perfectly working formula. So... expect nothing new and you'll get served!

So, 'Impact'. Harmony Dies had a thing going, clearly. This smells of sweat, sounds live and is able to cause huge blunt force traumas. There's no studio trickery, like triggering, utilized here; this is as organic as it gets, and it is a rather dry-sounding recording yet with loads of punch. One big part of HD's DNA on this one is Cannibal Corpse's 1994 album 'The Bleeding' and early Suffocation (e.g. 'Breeding the Spawn'). Clanking bass, hacking guitars, intense drumming and barking growls. I actually could go and write, that this is a tribute to 'The Bleeding' (or a big chuck of it is, more like)! There's two ways around it: Total stagnation and repeating of old sins, or a band playing what they really wanted to play. I do not care as far as it's good music, and it's enough for me who enjoys early death metal mayhem. Gladly I sense it is the latter of the two with HD here.

The riffs are malevolent and ugly for a big part, but at times deformed bastardizations; it is nigh on impossible to get on an equal level of classic death metal riffs. However, there are some harmonics and almost melodious chord progressions that make this a bit different, and of course hectic yet careful soloing. The bass guitar is well audible, clanking out with more rubbery stretches, and its own wanderings here and there. The tempo changes... Of course, they happen suddenly. Anything death metallic from blasting to skank beats, plus more groovy ones which are rarely heard. The music is always moving. Low-ish growls are powerful, but a bit deep in the mix. 'Narcotic' has a Tom Araya scream, which is more like a power metal one, though, and there's this upper throat voice, very reminiscent of that Chris Barnes's trick. The performances are tight, pretty technical sometimes, and there's hardly no time for a breather.

It's all pretty 'The Bleeding' in style, there's no two ways around it! Cannibal Corpse didn't stick with that style for long, so I am welcoming more death metal in that style. The songwriting differs from the catchiness of 'The Bleeding'. This is way less adhesive, generally, but hardly gets messy, expect in punishing a listener. It is not very memorable either, but when given a careful listen, it can show its potency. Majority of the songs are only about 2

Rating: 7 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
12/02/2024 18:23