Imperishable - Come, Sweet Death

Imperishable – Come, Sweet Death
Release Date: 9th June 2023
Label: Hammerheart Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Metal, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal.
FFO: Dismember, Entombed, At the Gates, Desultory.
Review By: Mark Young

Making no bones about where their influences lie, Imperishable take that classic Gothenburg sound and take it for a spin with their latest release via Hammerheart Records. Come, Sweet Death is no mere clone of past glories and use that melodic metal model as their blueprint to kick forward. It is exactly as you think it will sound but with added nuanced moments from NWOBHM on certain tracks, which is a welcome addition as it gives it that little difference when compared against others who plough a similar field.

Venomous has a cool, almost Iron Maiden harmony break-into solo which shows their willingness to look beyond the core facets of that Gothenburg well spring. The Perennial Desire takes from Death for its opening bars before stomping a big hole in you and The Phantasm keeps that energy going with some thrash riffing going on, it’s spot on.

In an album of high quality, Teeth of the Hydra gets them a bonus point for including speech from Jason and the Argonauts; this has some down and dirty riffing and harmonics that rule. The harmony parts are quality, well-thought-out, and again they fit in within the overall build of the song. DeathSpawn, on the other hand, is a furious beast and just motors at high speed, just as you expect it to.

The final two tracks here, Prelude and Come, Sweet Death bookend this cracker. Prelude is a subtle instrumental piece that says what it needs to in a short time, as the title track boots in. I love it when bands just go all out on the last track, and this is the case here. It’s suitably epic as an album closer and squeezes a lot in its 4 plus minutes of time.

It has everything going on: Brutal vocals, blast beats, that gnarly guitar sound but with a ton of melody. Guitar solo breaks are on point, fit the song, and don’t overshadow the hard work done with the rhythm. The 10 songs absolutely blast past, allowing no time for any possible repetition in content, which must be difficult when you consider the sub-genre they work within. All are as delivered with the intent to make you bang your head, and they succeed. It does possess that unmistakable sound, but it doesn’t make that mistake of trying to ape the usual suspects. It is its own thing, and you should make every effort to track them down.