Impending Annihilation - Idiopathic Osteonecrosis Of The Femoral Head EP

Labels: Gore House Productions

Formats: CD/Digital

Release Date: 19 Apr 2024

Tracklist:

1. Rapidly Destructive Coxarthropathy

2.  Idiopathic Osteonecrosis Of The Femoral Head

Death metal has taken influence from a whole host of pathological/morbid subjects ever since it's inception. From the early days of Carcass when death and grind mixed to the guttural technicality of Cannibal Corpse, the gory side of the sub-genre has always been pushing forward. There are many reasons for that thanks to labels like New Standard Elite, Pathologically Explicit Records and of course, Gore House Productions.

Gore House released the newest two-song EP from Japanese tech/brutal death metal duo Impending Annihilation in April, after what was a seven year hiatus for the band. Starting out in 2015, they self-released a demo, an EP and an album before their sudden halt. With their second album on the way, this release acts as a mere sliver of what's to come.

Reading about Impending Annihilation before writing this review got me all excited. I love old-school death metal and won’t turn my nose up at slam/brutal death metal either; however, I’ve grown to really love technical music over the last few years and this ticks all the boxes. The EP’s first song ‘Rapidly Destructive Coxarthropathy’, while ostensibly being a brutal song, is chock full of excellently played virtuoso guitar/bass work. The percussion is utterly smashing while the vocals are pretty much as you’d expect, gnarly and thankfully on the right side of becoming pig-squeals.

The title-track ‘Idiopathic Osteonecrosis Of The Femoral Head’ is an even briefer affair at one-and-a-half minutes. Despite it’s short length, it’s chock full of technical riff-wizardry and general extreme intensity. Before you even have time to settle in, the EP is over. Impending Annihilation definitely know how to tease the listener as these two tracks really don’t seem like enough. Clever ploy though and one that does work. 

Chances are (and correct me if I’m wrong), you’ll be unfamiliar with Impending Annihilation. With a brand new album on the horizon it’s a perfect time to discover them, especially if you like your death metal fast and technically tight. It only take four minutes to realise what you’ve been missing.

You can stream and purchase the EP as a digital download from Gore House Productions below:-

Impending Annihilation - https://www.facebook.com/impending.annihilation

CD copies are available from Gore House here - https://store.gorehouseproductions.com/collections/cd/products/impending-annihilation-idiopathic-osteonecrosis-of-the-femoral-head

Gore House Productions - https://www.facebook.com/GoreHouseProductionsOfficial