There’s another new release from Sweden. Another band I love dearly, one that I’ve been hyping for basically two years now. Today, Imminence released their new album Axis Mundi and I am completely torn apart over it. My first listen was very hard and somewhat disheartening for me. I’ll try to give it another listen and comment on this album song by song to sort my thoughts, but what I can say from the very first try is that already with the single releases I knew this wasn’t going to be my album. Before it was released, I got really scared and said more than once to my partner that I feared this album was not going to be it. I know that this kind of anticipation might’ve ruined it for me from the beginning, but I was right and here’s why.
So let’s start with the opener Twisting in the Wind. The song isn’t too much of a banger, but it has its nice moments. I love the violins. It’s kinda nice to listen to, but somehow it doesn’t spark joy. It doesn’t really build up anticipation or tension or anything. I just skimmed the lyrics for a moment and they’re okay-ish, but not too deep. But hey, we’ve got a „metalcore lyrics bingo“-phrase with „As above and so below“. I don’t know what to say. I love the violin. But other than that I already forgot about the song right after listening to it. It doesn’t really touch me and it doesn’t stick with me. It’s still one of the better songs on the album I guess.
Number two is The Sword That Never Bends and right from the moment it was released as a single, this song was a „What the fuck?“-moment for me. Sound-wise it wasn’t what I had expected to hear from Imminence. It was the first hint at them trying to take a new direction. Which is perfectly fine with me. It just is not my song. I really had troubles recognising Eddie’s voice in the clear vocals, which sound a little bit too polished / overproduced to me. As much as I love Eddie’s voice, the clear parts lack emotion for me. I love the screams though. But other than that … I’m also not too convinced by the lyrics. The most outstanding part is the violin solo. Oh and while listening to it with my Heavys I’m happy to notice some bass going on, I’m a sucker for bass. But Idk. I don’t hate it, but I don’t really like it. It feels a bit too generic. Even when I heard it live at Summer Breeze the song didn’t really reach my heart. However, I couldn’t say it’s not catchy. It’s a tad too catchy even, you’ve heard it once and it won’t leave your head for a full month.
Devil May Try has a nice heavy bass line and low guitars at the beginning. But once again: What are those clear vocals? I love Eddie’s screams, but some of the clear vocals don’t sit right with me. Nope, nope, nope. The lyrics don’t give me much to work with either. I like the thunderous guitars, I like some of the strings. But it feels like there’s not much happening throughout the entire song? Once again: Doesn’t stick with me.
I think Crestfallen might be my favourite song on the album. I already liked it when it was released and it made me cry immediately when I heard it for the first time because this felt more like the Imminence I fell in love with. The vocals and the violin are absolutely beautiful. I love the bass-line. I also kinda like the lyrics. Honestly, this song gave me so much hope for this album when it was released. I’ll keep this song in my memory as the song I first dared to crowdsurf to at Summer Breeze.
False Light has a promising start again. Screams, thunderous guitars again, some of the heavy, mysterious sound Imminence established over the last album cycle. But once again: the clear vocal parts don’t sit quite right with me. Like … what is it that I genuinely enjoy the heavy parts of the song, but cringe at the more melodic, softer ones? Anyway, this was another song that tricked me into thinking this album could carry some hope for me. It’s still one of the better ones. But not exactly my favourite.
And then there’s If Not Now, When. And good god, yes, I didn’t like it – and didn’t „understand“ it – from the first moment I heard it when it was released. It confused me so damn much because it sounds like NOTHING I ever associated with Imminence. This song is an outstanding example of how it feels like they’re trying to sound like … someone or something else? Like … I don’t even really see an „evolution“ in their sound that feels natural to me. Imminence have changed their style over the years quite a bit, but from album to album, there usually was some kind of essence that was Imminence. If Not Now, When feels like a totally different band. I hear Eddie’s voice, I hear his violin, but I don’t see Imminence in that. I don’t know what the lyrics are supposed to tell me. I hate the title. I hate the chorus. The violin and piano part is beautiful, but doesn’t feel much like Imminence to me either. I don’t know what to do with this song other than skipping it because nope, it doesn’t touch me at all. Except for pushing me away maybe.
When I first read the title Didn’t Think About You (Lately) I already didn’t know what to do with it. I had low expectations. That song … dug a hole underneath those expectations to crawl through the basement. I don’t want to say much more other than: I hate it and it makes me physically and mentally unwell to listen to it. It makes me straightforwardly angry. You know what this song reminds me of? The fact that Imminence now signed with the same label as Bad Omens and that this song is just as annoying for me as songs like Who are you? and somebody else on The Death of Peace of Mind. I kid you not: Didn’t Think About You (Lately) is one of the songs that completely ruin this album for me. I want to be able to unhear it. I am so genuinely sorry. Somewhere in the comments on the new Imminence album I’ve read that the album sounds like they were trying to sound like Sleep Token. I think this album is the perfect example of that. Heck, nah.
Leviathan. I don’t know. This song fucks with my brain. I don’t like the beginning. The beginning is such a Bad Omens beginning. And the lyrics. The LYRICS! THIS IS THE BLACK RECYCLED INTO ONE SONG! There’s (something) blood in the water? Like sheep to the slaughter? I feel like I’ve heard all this before. There are nice guitars and nice violins, but I can’t unhear the fact that this feels like „I took all the lines from The Black that I liked and used them again.“ The martyr is back. I don’t know. At first listening I genuinely liked this song because the second half brought back the sound of The Black, but the beginning is ierks and the lyrics are … I don’t know. An endless repetition of four lines.
Shed Your Skin feels just as bad to me as Didn’t Think About You (Lately). I don’t like the vocals. I don’t like the sound of it. Nope, nope, nope. It hurts me to listen to it. It makes my skin crawl. I don’t want to listen to it again. I don’t want to. I DON’T EVEN LIKE THE VERY STRIKING BASS LINE (sorry Christian).
What the fuck is happening at the beginning of Power Divine? It becomes better from the moment Eddie starts screaming. But the start? I don’t know. Also: Is there the breath of a running person? Generally speaking: This is one of the better songs on the album. One of those that sound more like Imminence. Still there are some vocal parts that don’t sit right with me. Once again, this song is pretty much two-sided for me and I can’t decide if I like it or not. It’s one of those with the highest potential that I might like it at some point. But it’s another example of how I don’t really like Eddie’s clear vocals on this album all too much. How can all his screams be so incredibly strong and most of his clear vocals so polished and … I don’t know, lacking soul? This is something that destroys a lot of the songs on this album for me.
Finally, Exodus as the last song of the album … starts kinda weird. Once again: This carries some essence of Imminence for me – and bits that just confuse me and sound like they were trying to be someone else while also trying to be themselves. Also there are vocals that I can’t place. Who’s that? I can’t find a name in the album credits on Tidal for any kind of extra vocals. So … who’s that voice? That’s irritating me. Other than that, there are parts of the song that I like, but it doesn’t quite flow for me. And it’s still my problem with Eddie’s clear vocals. I don’t know. But the guitar is great and the song has a nice outro.
So all in all … there are parts of the album that I genuinely like. But it doesn’t work for me as a whole. It’s hard for me to find a song that I like in its entirety, other than Crestfallen, and I dislike Didn’t Think About You (Lately) and Shed Your Skin with such a burning passion that these two albums ruin the entire album experience for me. Which, in total, kinda points at this album just not being for me. Maybe I’ll manage to listen into a few more songs, but I can’t see myself growing fond of the entire album at all.
And you know what? That’s basically fine for me. As I have mentioned above, I kinda expected this to happen. I had hoped for a better turnout, but here we are. It is as it is. Bands change and Imminence have always been one of the bands that were up for experiments. None of their albums sound too much alike. But as I’ve mentioned before, there always was some kind of essential thing that was typical for Imminence and on this album I see songs that feel like an entirely different band sneaked in. That’s not for me.
The thing is that this is just one more thing in a kind of development lately that I’m not too fond of. I want to stress that I absolutely love this band and I think they deserve the world. Their work is gorgeous, the times I’ve met them they always seemed like genuinely nice people, they’ve worked hard. They deserve all the best things in the world. But some of those developments are not for me. A movie? Fine, but I personally have to say that I’m starting to be weary of bands that turn their music into movies in whatever way (looking at you, Bring Me The Horizon and Electric Callboy). It’s also my very personal problem that sometimes I just fail to decipher the imagery of Imminence, so I’m not particularly interested in trying to strain my brain with more riddles. And that’s fine. It’s not for me and that’s my personal opinion.
I am also a little put off by the way I feel Harald supports the growing cult around his stage persona. The Witch King might be fascinating. But I’m seeing fandom dynamics I resent building around the WK. And that kind of impacts on how well and secure I might feel at their shows to be honest. This and the new album honestly make me wonder if I made the right decision when I bought tickets for their upcoming tour, especially given that I’m not too fond of the special guest either. I guess I’ll have to observe and digest a little more.
