Impellitteri - Crunch (2000)
Impellitteri is back! With a new album and a slightly new and refined sound. On all tracks Rob is still singing with all power metal glory intact! He has however incorporated a few select lines and sections
(sometimes just a word at the end of a phrase) where he
now utilizes a lower range and it is done in a very tasteful way. Musically Chris is playing with more "crunch" guitar style (thus the name of the cd I am
assuming) and is tuned a couple steps lower. The guitar lines at times are a bit more choppy but amazingly just as fast as ever! The first 3 tracks really are not alot different than the music Impellitteri has always been know for,
true classic metal. The biggest change can first be noted on the track "Wake me up" where keyboards make an eerie appearance droning out a goth-like background that sounds right at home along side Rob's powerful voice and
Chris's shredding. Yep, Chris is still one of the fastest shredders I have ever heard. The last track "Fear No Evil" is Impellitteri's heaviest song to date. In my opinion "Fear no Evil" comes off sounding just
a bit like something off of Testaments cd "Low"! The lower tone of Rob's vocals on this track reminds me quite a bit of Chuck Billy from Testament. They have also included a new ballad called "Forever Yours"
that is by far the best ballad/love song I have heard since the '80s'. There are a couple other odd surprises like the "turntable scratching" in the track "Wasted Earth" and the reappearance of those creepy
keyboards in "Slay the Dragon" which also sports some Ken Tamplin like harmonies. (it's amazing how Impellitteri can put these sounds all together and actually make it work!). There are two instrumentals which allow
Chris's fluid guitar work to shine like a diamond. Lyrically they deal with a lot of different topics like Y2K (and how nothing happened) in the song "Turn of the Century" and the lures of Satan (in "Beware of the
Devil"). This is not one of their most (lyrically) bold efforts but is in no way secular either. -- Review by Norm