Approaching their tenth anniversary, Finnish madmen IMPALED NAZARENE decided to follow a fine old tradition — giving their fans a gift: the chance to add the band's early material to their collections. More specifically, the IMPNAZ crew packed onto that round piece of plastic known as a compact disc two demos from 1991: "Shemhamforash" and "Taog Eht Fo Htao Eht" (read it backwards ;) ), as well as the 7" EPs "Goat Perversion" (1991) and "Sadogoat" (1992). There was still room on the disc, so frontman Mika Luttinen crammed in several tracks from studio sessions in October 1996 and July 1997. I don't think I need to explain what you'll hear — an hour of unbridled, diabolical death/black metal energy. Obviously, the bulk of the disc isn't going to blow you away with production quality, so the crowd that loves polished sound can step aside. And who needs them anyway? This release is first and foremost for the army of IMPALED NAZARENE devotees. By the way, besides the Finnish band's own tracks, there are covers of DEICIDE ("Crisifixation"), S.O.D. ("Kill Yourself"), SODOM ("Burst Command Til War"), SARCOFAGO ("The Black Vomit"), and others.
A few words about the packaging. The cover features a skull-gas mask hybrid. The booklet is packed with collages of photos, tickets for the various forms of transport the band used on tour, backstage passes, concert posters, and even an article about the band being banned from performing in Australia. Quite interesting to look through. It's a shame they couldn't include a photo from the moscow show — the one where IMPALED NAZARENE performed in nothing but their birthday suits.
Bottom line: for fans, this is a must-have; for everyone else, if you want to get acquainted with the band, go for their full-length albums instead.