Christian Review Magazine Issue 4 - April 2015 | Page 42

MUSIC
REVIEW

Check our our exclusive interview
with Chris Impellitteri
discovered Impellitteri way back in
1987 when they released their self
titled debut EP. I remember being
held captive by Rob Rock’s amazing vocals
and guitar virtuoso Chris Impellitteri’s
superb playing featuring some of the most
insane over-the-top solo shredding I had
ever heard.

I

Artist:

IMPELLITTERI
Album:

VENOM
Rating:

Genre:

Heavy & Melodic Metal
For Fans Of:

Yngwie J. Malmsteen,
Narnia, Rob Rock
Label:

Frontiers Music SRL
Reviewed by:

Christian St John
Release Date:

April 21, 2015

42 > CHRISTIAN REVIEW MAGAZINE

Since then Impellitteri have released two
more EP’s, a live album, and an impressive
ten studio albums (including this one). And
I have to say that after listening to their
latest album, Venom, nothing much has
changed - Chris Impellitteri is still writing
incredible tunes and setting fire to his
guitar’s fingerboard, and Rob Rock is still
the undisputed voice of melodic metal.
Venom is an impressive album. The title
track “Venom” begins the metal onslaught
and features a very familiar sound - flat out
melodic metal with neo classical overtones,
I.E. Impellitteri’s signature sound. And the
rest of the album follows suit,with ten
tracks of blistering metal that grabs hold of
the listener’s ears with nary a letup in sight.
Impellitteri have never considered
themselves a Christian band. Singer Rob
Rock is a devout Christian and Chris
Impellitteri does share many Christian
beliefs. In short, they are a secular metal
band telling stories through their songs,
some of which feature faith oriented lyrics.

The title track looks at temptation,
“Nightmare” is a cautionary tale, “Holding
On” is about God holding on to his children,
and Jehova is a cry for God’s help.
The good news is this is a safe metal album.
Impellitteri has never been a band about
sex, drugs, and the devil, and listening to
them all these years I have to say that their
lyrics are some of the safest in the secular
metal genre.

“In this world you’re falling,
One day at a time,
Until you reach for the light.”
- Face the Enemy
I don’t know if I’ve listened to a less than
par album by this band, and I’m very
pleased to say that “Venom” is way, way
above par. In fact, this album is
Impellitteri’s best album since their
definitive 1997 release, Eye of the
Hurricane; it’s not as memorable as Eye…
but it’s close. Melodic metal with layers of
crunching guitars, incredibly fast guitar solos, ground shaking bass and drums, and of
course Rob Rock’s iconic vocals. In short,
Venom is a solid release featuring metal
the way God intended it to be played!