Impact Is Imminent was the 1990 release from Bay Area thrash legends Exodus, perhaps their last strong album before fading into a sea of mediocrity for many years. Musically, this one's pretty solid, displaying many of the characteristics we had grown to love of the early Exodus attack-frantic riffing, manic drum work, sizzling lead lines, and the raspy vocals of Steve 'Zetro' Souza. However, the songwriting at this point had started to take a turn towards the cheesey, the lyrics here bordering on juvenile at times, and Souza seems to be trying too hard to be cute during parts of "The Lunatic Parade" and "A.W.O.L.". Still, there's enough kick ass thrash to he had here, such as the crunchy riff monger "Within the Walls of Chaos", the manic "Objection Overruled", and of course the mosh-friendly epic "Heads They Win (Tails You Lose)". Part of the problem at times during Impact Is Imminent, and this was something that Anthrax also struggled with at that time, was that Exodus were trying too hard to be hip ("Thrash Under Pressure" being a perfect example), instead of just letting the music do the talking. For many fans, what was really wanted from Exodus was ripping guitars and jackhammer rhythms, which are in abundance on the killer "Changing of the Guard".
This remaster from Caroline Records sounds spectacular, giving new power to this album, the guitars all up front and nasty the way they ought to be. However, not sure about the packaging, as the CD is housed in a mini-LP styled sleeve, with all the lyrics and album info printed in TINY lettering on the back of the cardboard jacket, which you basically would need a magnifying glass to read. No reissue essay or anything else is included, even the inner sleeve is blank, which is somewhat odd considering that this album has been out of print for a while. I think Caroline kind of missed the boat here, but regardless, Exodus fans who've been waiting for Impact Is Imminent to arrive in remastered format will no doubt scoop this right up. Not their best album by far, but a solid thrash entry nontheless.
Track Listing
1. Impact is Imminent
2. A.W.O.L.
3. The Lunatic Parade
4. Within the Walls of Chaos
5. Objection Overruled
6. Only Death Decides
7. Heads They Win (Tails You Lose)
8. Changing of the Guard
9. Thrash Under Pressure
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