Impellitteri ‘The Nature of the Beast’
Album Review By Adam McCann
Frontiers Records – 2018 – Heavy Metal
When thinking of guitar shredders, Chris Impellitteri may not be the first name on the lips of everyone who may instantly go to Steve Vai, Joe Satriani or Yngwie Malmsteen; but for Impellitteri’s band who have had a steady stream of albums since 1987, it shows that it is possible to have virtuoso guitar playing alongside decent heavy metal without the guitar being the main focus. It has been three years since Impellitteri released their ‘Venom’ album and for the band, it was a welcome return to form, but with the band’s latest album, ‘The Nature of the Beast’ can Impellitteri recapture the magic that made the previous album so good?
Yes, is the answer in short. ‘The Nature…’ takes the blueprint laid out on ‘Venom’ and hugely on it. This gives the album a more grandiose sound which transposes its way throughout, particularly on tracks such as ‘Wonder World’, ‘Shine On’ and the cover of ‘Phantom Of The Opera’ from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical of the same name. Vocalist Rob Rock, as expected, handles these songs with ease and shows that he is not just a run of the mill vocalist, but one who can match Chris Impellitteri’s titanic playing. Furthermore, this album lends itself perfectly to the soul-searching pseudo religious and political motifs which dominate this album, particularly with excellent tracks such as ‘Hypocrisy’, ‘Masquerade’ and ‘Man of War’ with the only real weak spots for this album being a cover of Black Sabbath’s ‘Symptom of the Universe’, which is ultimately pointless and the long pause at the end of ‘Kill The Beast’ which unfortunately makes ‘Shine On’ feel like a bonus track.
‘The Nature…’ is a fantastic album, it is Impellitteri firing on all cylinders and delivering an album that is certainly one of the best albums released this year.
Rating : 85/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
