London thrashers Imperium are on a bit of a trajectory at the moment and rightly so. With a looming appearance on the Sophie Lancaster stage at this year’s Bloodstock, the timely release of debut album Exodus Unknown should provide them with more than enough ammunition to impress the crowd.
Taking their cue from old school thrash, Exodus Unknown arrives fully formed with razor sharp riffs, and a tight energy which belies their early years as a band. Lifted by an impressive production which beefs up the sound, its an explosive 45 minutes. There is a nervous energy throughout, but this only serves to instil the confidence in the actual songs.
And what of the songs? They waste no time hitting hard and fast with opener ‘Hell And High Water’, then a few tracks in provide us with an impressive progressive sound on ‘Reap What You Sow’. Unstoppable sounds like early Metallica, with frontman Ben Porter giving his best James Hetfield impression at times. This is no homage though, and they are very much their own band. That chunky riff after the middle eight on the aforementioned song is made to get the pits moving.
‘The Gun’ shows their innate sense of an anthemic melody too, set against the pummelling rhythm section of Ralph Comes (bass) and James Hawes (drummer). ‘Hangman’ is more ferocious in delivery, On ‘Tread The Serpent’ they combine with Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan of Venom Inc, bringing their influences right into their world. It’s a brutal attack on the sense which veers towards punk energy. It’s only apt that on last song ‘The End’ they slow it right down into an acoustic led epic ballad, because why the fuck not. It’s a perfect end to a quite remarkable album.
Exodus Unknown is the sound of a band ready to take on the worlds stages and win at all costs. There is a real hunger here and it wouldn’t be surprising to see them become one of the biggest bands on the UK metal scene if they carry on like this. There’s still a naivety about them, but they seem to know where they want to go and this is what makes them so exciting. We look forward to hearing more from these.
