{"id":93555,"date":"2022-05-20T00:00:18","date_gmt":"2022-05-19T23:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=93555"},"modified":"2022-05-30T15:00:23","modified_gmt":"2022-05-30T14:00:23","slug":"album-review-anvil-impact-is-imminent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-anvil-impact-is-imminent\/","title":{"rendered":"ANVIL – Impact Is Imminent (2022) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANVIL
Impact Is Imminent<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nAFM (2022)<\/span>
Rating: 6.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

You can\u2019t teach an old dog new tricks. And so veteran Canadian headbangers Anvil return for more standard metal and an album title that may or may not bring a smile to the faces of thrashers Exodus!<\/p>\n

Impact Is Imminent<\/em> is the 19th opus from a band that will never deliver anything new, but then again, why should they? The vocals are average, the lyrics are poor, the dynamics are predictable, but for the die-hard fans it\u2019s more of the same ballsy rock.<\/p>\n

Opener \u2018Take A Lesson\u2019 comes complete with what appears to be a Dave Grohl introduction as the band plays on, trudging in a sort of mid-to-late 80s style with lyrics one can only laugh, or cringe, at.<\/p>\n

There are flashes of Accept at their most mediocre with the faster segments that boast routine axe work and rattling percussion, but there are some above-average melodies on offer, more so with a cut such as \u2018Ghost Shadow\u2019 and the heavier climes of \u2018Another Gun Fight\u2019.<\/p>\n

The cheesier side really emerges with songs such as \u2018Wizard\u2019s Wand\u2019, where the warble of Steve \u201cLips\u201d Kudlow leaves a lot to be desired alongside those god-awful lyrics, but one still can\u2019t deny that Impact Is Imminent<\/em> remains a solid ball of rock filled with catchy hooks, some nifty solos (\u2018Fire Rain\u2019) and some effective bass trundles from Chris Robertson.<\/p>\n

However, whether intentional or not there are just too many fillers (the jazzy \u2018Gomez\u2019 and \u2018Someone To Hate\u2019) and too much of the generic (\u2018Lockdown\u2019 and \u2018The Rabbit Hole\u2019). But it is what it is \u2013 an overlong opus from a band that exists on its tried and trusted formulas to appeal to the fans that have been there all the way.<\/p>\n

Sadly, all too often I start to enjoy the albums out of sympathy rather than pleasure. In fact, the only tracks that really got my foot tapping here were \u2018Ghost Shadow\u2019, the sizzling groove of \u2018Shockwave\u2019 complete with cowbell and Black Sabbath<\/a>-esque doominess, and the speedy \u2018Explosive Energy\u2019.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not here to slag off a band that built the foundations for metal, but I am here to say that if you know Anvil then Impact Is Imminent<\/em> does exactly what it says on the tin; there\u2019s repetition, yet oddness, there\u2019s humour and there\u2019s flashes of excellence. Off course, the trio doesn\u2019t care, they stick to what they know and above all, what they enjoy doing. Robb Reiner remains a beast behind the kit, Lips is somewhat tame yet charming, and Chris Robertson channels the fury of Lemmy. However, the album is still 50-minutes I probably won\u2019t experience again.<\/p>\n

Anvil\u2019s latest offering is formulaic, frumpy, but more than enough to appease the fan base which remains as solid and as unwavering as Lips\u2019 goofy glare.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ANVILImpact Is Imminent AFM (2022)Rating: 6.5\/10 You can\u2019t teach an old dog new tricks. And so veteran Canadian headbangers Anvil return for more standard metal and an album title that may or may not bring a smile to the faces of thrashers Exodus! Impact Is Imminent is the 19th opus from a band that will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,601],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-anvil"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93555"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93557,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93555\/revisions\/93557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}