ANVIL (Heavy Metal Legends from Canada) – Album review of “Impact Is Imminent” – Released by AFM Records on May 20, 2022 #Anvil
Thanks to All Noir PR, Dustin Hardman PR and AFM Records – review by John Erigo
Tracklist:
01. Take A Lesson
02. Ghost Shadow
03. Another Gun Fight
04. Fire Rain
05. Teabag
06. Don‘t Look Back
07. Someone To Hate
08. Bad Side Of Town
09. Wizard´s Wand
10. Lockdown
11. Explosive Energy
12. The Rabbit Hole
13. Shockwave
14. Gomez
Thanks to AFM Records I had this album a while ago. When a friend and fellow long time headbanger, and ANVIL fan, asked me how the album was I replied “It sounds like fucking ANVIL!!!”. For the uninitiated, that means straight ahead, head bashing METAL!!! I am not sure what else I can say about this band that I haven’t already said. Over 40 years of pounding out some of the best metal a fan of loud music could want. Anvil has always been on top of the metal food chain and their new offering IMPACT IS IMMINENT just further cements an already legendary legacy.
The album has all the earmarks of an Anvil album (that can be heard in the 2 videos posted above, look up ^ fuckers!!! LOL!) – hard driving drums, soaring guitar solos, pounding bass lines, in your face vocals and great songs. The only thing really different or unique about this album is that it includes 2 instrumental songs. The album closer “Gomez” even features a horn section, revisiting the “Swing Thing” vibe – it’s Jazz (Metal) man! It seems the band had a different approach with this album. Due to the pandemic, the band had more time write and test the tunes out – Lips explains –
“None of our previous albums blends music and lyrics into as tight a unit as “Impact Is Imminent”. “Everything comes together homogeneously. As a result, the new material sounds monolithic, right down to the very last details, both in terms of rhythm
and harmonies. In the past, our studio sessions were sometimes like a little like jumping in at the deep end, with us having to improvise a lot and making decisions at short notice. Working on ‘Impact Is Imminent’, not only was there plenty of time for the songwriting process in the run-up to the recordings, but I also had the leisure to put all my ideas to the acid test and work on them until they were perfect.”
Let me jump in and say that I have noticed a difference in the Anvil sound since bassist Chris Robertson has joined the band. The use of background vocals has been optimized and every album seems to be more prevalent – using stacked harmonies subtly in songs. I love it! Along with the ultra talented Robb Reiner on the drums, they make a deadly combination. Wanna know if Robb still has it? Just listen to the last 30 seconds of “Bad Side of Town”! You can hear the old school (Buddy Rich) influence has feet and hands effortlessly fly around the kit. A band is only as good as their drummer and oh yeah, Anvil is awesome!
Let’s not also forget main man Lips. Whose guitar tone has never been better. His in your face, ripping guitar solos and intricate rhythm guitar playing while simultaneously singing is mind blowing!!
Like the bands 3 previous albums – ‘Anvil Is Anvil’ (2016), ‘Pounding The Pavement’ (2018) and ‘Legal At Last’ (2019), ‘Impact Is Imminent’ was produced by Martin ‘Mattes’ Pfeiffer (U.D.O., among others) and Jörg Uken at Uken’s Soundlodge studios, so the successful combination consisting of Anvil/Pfeiffer/Uken has struck again.
Hey, there’s even a song about Wizards, LOL! Lips explains:
“Originally the number was called ‘Give Me The Goods’ and went “Give me good music,
give me the goods”. But somehow I wasn’t happy with that. I closed my eyes, concentrated on the music and listened to my subconscious. Suddenly the line “The wizard’s wand with just a wave, the wizard’s wand all of us to save” came to my mind.
Out of nowhere, the whole message was there: What would I actually do if I was a wizard? I’d change the world for the better! Once I’d found the theme, ‘Wizard`s Wand’ was finished in ten minutes flat.” What a guy!!! LOL! Well Lips, you and Anvil have changed the metal world for the better. Lips, along with the always mind blowing Robb “Robbo” Reiner have been the backbone of this metal juggernaut of a band since its inception. All of us metal heads owe them a huge thank you for keeping their brand of metal alive and well for such a long time. Yes, Anvil are still going strong 😉
Order the album — Impact Is Imminent, available as CD, Vinyl and Digital formats at THIS LOCATION!
ANVIL is:
Steve “Lips” Kudlow – Vocals/Guitar
Robb Reiner – Drums
Chris Robertson – Bass/Vocals
For More Info Visit:
http://my.tbaytel.net/tgallo/anvil/
https://www.facebook.com/anvilmetal
https://twitter.com/AnvilMetal666
https://www.instagram.com/anvil.metal/
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