It's been a few years between albums for the Swedish band Impious. They return with a concept album, which although common in some genres of metal, is not as common when it comes to death metal. The concept is illustrated by a very well drawn comic strip in the CD booklet. It's a nice touch.
Of course you're not getting the CD for the comics, you're getting it for the music. The music on Holy Murder Masquerade is melodic death metal, and even though the music isn't groundbreaking, Impious does a solid job. They use a lot of thrash riffs, and they are able to blast along at a rapid pace. They also dial back the tempos on some of the songs and amp up the brutality.
Martin Akkesson's vocals fit the music perfectly, as his death metal growl relates the story of the album's concept. And even though the vocals are harsh, they are still pretty understandable. Holy Murder Masquerade is crushingly heavy in spots, and also has plenty of melody and variation in tempo and style to make for a first rate melodic death metal album.
