ANVIL – Impact Is Imminent

A tale of Resilience

It is with the precision and regularity of a clock that Anvil has delivered an album every two years (or almost) for the last forty years. Despite their impressive resume and impeccable dedication, they remain the most famous of the unsuccessful bands. Anvil seemed to always play substitute and were never really the main event. With that being said, they gained a solid reputation and now rank amongst the classics of the classic in many a knowledgeable metalhead library. Like everyone else, they had to slow down a bit for the last two years because of the pandemic.

Carry on, no matter what

To open this album, Dave Grohl (re)introduces the band: it’s an extract of his speech during the 25th Independent Spirit Award, when Anvil was awarded the prize for best documentary in 2010. The song “Take A Lesson” is certainly inspired by their conflicted history. This lesson is as much for them as for everyone who did not believe in them. Musically speaking, it could not be more classic: riffs straight out of the ’80s, good clean soli and raspy vocals.

This album continues the tradition of tackling society’s abuses with abrasive irony (“Another Gunfight”). “Fire Rain” has a faster tempo and is a nice addition to the album. The instrumental “Teabag” sounds like a spontaneous jam session that somehow ended up on the album. “Bad Side Of Town” and “The Wizard’s Wand” also figure among the entertaining part of Impact Is Imminent.

But despite these enjoyable moments, this album remains overall way too classic. Anvil does it well, but album after album, it seems they’ve covered it all. On the list of songs inspired by Covid, there’s “Lockdown”, but it is a hard miss. Instead of reminding you of human resilience against adversity, it just reminds you that you probably had a dreadful time in lockdown and that some had it even worse. Perhaps it would have been better to just forget it.

Last words

With their long career, Anvil must have still gathered a good number of die-hard fans, but it is with a certain disappointment that this reviewer is not amongst them. Impact Is Imminent will maybe thrill them, but for the others who never really got into Anvil before, it will not convince them.

It is not bad. It is not great, just a bit boring, like a firecracker going pschitt instead of boom.

Lineup

Robb Reiner – Drums
Steve Kudlow – Guitars, Vocals
Chris Robertson – Bass

Impact Is Imminent – Tracklist

1. Take A Lesson
2. Ghost Shadow
3. Another Gun Fight
4. Fire Rain
5. Teabag
6. Don’t Look Back
7. Someone To Hate
8. Bad Side Of Town
9. Wizard’s Wand
10. Lockdown
11. Explosive Energy
12. The Rabbit Hole
13. Shockwave
14. Gomez