Nervous Impulse is a Canadian death-grind band that I was completely unaware of until I stumbled upon Time To Panic, the band's second album. This record is a sonic assault of grind blasts, shredding death metal guitar and some real unbridled vocal mayhem. There's an undercurrent of maybe some deathcore, not unlike late Cannibal Corpse. Especially in the guitar tone and the breakdowns.
The drumming on Time To Panic is what initially sold me on Nervous Impulse. Almost non stop, rapid fire blast beats. The snare drum seems to almost be overflowing with blasts on top of blasts. Snare rolls sandwiched between twitching blast beats that pulse with hyper blasts. The steady machine gun fire of the double bass pedal is a constant trampling hum ricocheting from song to song. At first, judging from the tone and speed of the drumming, I thought the band used a drum machine. The addition of an Agoraphobic Nosebleed cover had me thinking my suspicions were confirmed. Yet, low and a behold there's a name on the liner notes; Yan Chamberlan. The dude's a beast. He's not the flashiest drummer, but he's fast and precise. All killer, no filler.
The guitars are nice and heavy and full of pitch harmonics with the occasional staticy solo. Chuggy stop/start breakdowns fill out the dirge interludes of the longer songs. These slower segments may be a tad on the repetitive side. Possibly the only down side to the album depending on your personal tastes. The audible bass is a pleasant surprise here. Bassists, Felix Bourcier's quick, spring loaded solo runs really stand out within in the songs. Breaking up the structure or lighting the fuse within a song. Everyone on this album is on point and tight.
Lead singer, Eric Fiset, does an insane job of covering mic duties and gives truth to the term "harsh vocals". This guy has about a half a dozen different voices going on here; screechy screams, breathless yells, guttural lows, muffled roars and so forth. His style is rambling just as much as it is ugly and vile. He's like a regular Linda Blair.
All in all, this might be a little too deathcorish for more traditional grinders, but the blast beats are well worth it. Like most of Blast Head Records' catalog, Time To Panic sounds shiny and sharp. Crisp production helps secure the metal sound in the death-grind quintet's latest release. Well, that and the punishment dealt out by the band's speedy riffs and even speedier drums. More speedier? Most speediest.
FFO: Aberrant, Misery Index, Agoraphobis Nosebleed, Cannibal Corspe
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