ACT OF IMPALEMENT – Profane Altar CD

Description

ACT OF IMPALEMENT – Profane Altar CD

A relentless, bludgeoning experience that’s both suffocatingly heavy and exhilarating, delivering a sense of desecration and ritualistic fervor. It’s described as a “monolithic, mesmerizing plunge into foul, fetid depths”.

Formed in 2012, Nashville’s Act of Impalement have staunchly remained a power-trio since the beginning. Over the years, they’ve sharpened their sound and slowly eschewed the stylistic variety that culminated in their debut album, 2018’s Perdition Cult. While their second album, Infernal Ordinance, saw a three-year gestation from its genesis to its eventual release in early 2023, it put forth a stridently focused sound that was akin to a morbid melting pot of Cianide, Bolt Thrower, Prophecy of Doom, and Archgoat: GUTTED indeed, a new standard for songwriting.

That lattermost element continues on Act of Impalement’s third full-length, Profane Altar. Featuring the revitalized lineup that’s been in place prior to the release of that second album – founding guitarist Ethan Rock’s longtime collaborators Aaron Hortman (drums) and Jerry Garner (bass) – Profane Altar fittingly sees the trio adding much darker and more aggressive elements to their still-surprising sound. Though still drawing from the likes of Autopsy, Incantation, and of course Cianide, Act of Impalement’s third album is a filthy & finely honed assault of bestial death metal, drawing more inspiration from the likes of Belgium’s Possession, Finland’s Belial, and ever more Archgoat. What results is a monolithic, mesmerizing plunge into foul, fetid depths, with a slightly more atmospheric or at least “airier” recording that sacrifices not one ounce of molten muscle. As such, Profane Altar’s lyrics include historical themes throughout, but the overarch(goat)ing theme is occultic ritual violence with intensified vitriol towards bearers of the cross. March to Golgotha to scorn the deceiver or be trampled under cloven hoof by Act of Impalement!
Caligari Records, 2025.

Death Metal, Caligari Records, Act Of Impalement, Death/Doom