Impending Doom is an American Christian

deathcore Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore breakdowns. While there are some precursors to the concept of death metal fused with me ...

band from Riverside,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The group has released six full-length studio albums and are currently a five piece with lead vocalist Brook Reeves as one of the two original remaining members along with Manny Contreras who left the band in 2010 but returned in 2012. The band refers to their style of music as "gorship" - a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsgore and

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recogniti ...

History

Guitarist Manny Contreras and vocalist Brook Reeves started Impending Doom together on October 31, 2005. The band practiced with their sound before writing enough songs to record their demo, ''The Sin and Doom of Godless Men''. After this release, Greg Pewthers joined as a third guitarist after also leaving Oblige. Later that year, bassist Jon Alfaro left the band and David Sittig was added to the line-up in his replacement. Chris Forno also left and was never replaced. Andy Hegg later took the place of Bueno and the band recorded the album '' Nailed. Dead. Risen.'' after getting signed to Facedown Records. Due to drummer Andy Hegg's dedication to his soccer scholarship, Impending Doom was forced to employ substitute drummers for the tours that supported the album. Since then touring drummer Chad Blackwell became the official drummer for the band, during which Greg Pewthers returned to Oblige (a band later known as The Devastated), and was replaced by Cory Johnson, formerly of Sleeping Giant. The group signed to Facedown Records in January 2007, and their debut release for the label, ''Nailed. Dead. Risen.'', reached number 46 on the '' Billboard''

Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

chart. Billboard Chart Positions Allmusic.com The record has received generally positive reviews. The band has since started a street team to promote their music, which can be found on their Myspace top 8. The group then embarked on a tour of the United States to support the album in autumn 2007, including dates with

Dead to Fall Dead to Fall is an American metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and ...

, Winds of Plague and With Dead Hands Rising. In 2009 the band released their second album, '' The Serpent Servant''. Sometime after the release, drummer Chad Blackwell, a native of Pensacola, Florida, left the band to attend the Atlanta Institute of Music, to which Impending Doom asked former member Isaac Bueno to rejoin. Impending Doom released their second album, ''The Serpent Servant'', on March 31, 2009 which has hit number 3 on the '' Billboard''

chart. Their third album, '' There Will Be Violence'', was released on July 20, 2010. Sometime during the recording of the new album, both Manny Contreras and Isaac Bueno left the band for unknown reasons. Since then the band brought Brandon Trahan (formerly of Mirror of Dead Faces, xDeathstarx) into the line-up but have yet to find another permanent guitarist. The band has been on the Thrash and Burn tour 2010 with

Through the Eyes of the Dead Through the Eyes of the Dead is an American deathcore band from Florence, South Carolina, formed in 2003. They have released four full-length albums, one EP, and one split album with The Knife Trade. History The band was formed by Justin Longsh ...

, Kittie, Born of Osiris,

Asking Alexandria Asking Alexandria are a British Rock music, rock band from York, North Yorkshire, consisting of guitarists Ben Bruce and Cameron Liddell, drummer James Cassells, lead vocalist Danny Worsnop, and bassist Sam Bettley. Initially formed in 2006 ...

and more. They have toured with MyChildren MyBride,

The Crimson Armada The Crimson Armada was an American metalcore band formed in Westerville, Ohio in 2007 by Kyle Barrington and David Puckett. Following a one-year hiatus in 2008, the band returned to increased popularity, releasing its first EP, ''Behold the Arc ...

Chimaira Chimaira () is an American heavy metal band from Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in August 1998, the group was a member of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal scene. The band's name is derived from the word Chimera, a monstrous creature in Greek my ...

, and other bands. The band also created their own symbol called the "Repentagram" combining the words repent and

pentagram A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha, pentangle, or star pentagon) is a regular five-pointed star polygon, formed from the diagonal line segments of a convex (or simple, or non-self-intersecting) regular pentagon. Drawing a circle arou ...

. The band explained the Repentagram with the following:

We've gotten a lot of mail questioning the Repentagram Logo, I would like to take time right now to explain it to you all. First off we are a Christian band and a real one at that, we would never put something out that had satanic meaning or anything negative. We thought up the word "REPENTAGRAM" basically putting two words together. 1. REPENT (meaning: to feel such sorrow for sin or fault as to be disposed to change one's life for the better; be penitent.) 2. PENTAGRAM (which in the dark metal world is a satanic symbol.) Since we are a Christian death metal band we wanted to think up something clever; thus the Repentagram came into thought. It is not the same amount of sides as a pentagram, we are going for making a Christian death metal symbol. Just like we created the word "GORSHIP" (which as you all should know, does NOT mean worship gore, it means worshiping God through our Gore sounding music) the Repentagram is just the new word. Please pass this information along to anyone you may know that thinks anything more than it really is.

'' Baptized in Filth'' was produced by Andreas Magnusson who produced

Oh, Sleeper Oh, Sleeper is an American metalcore band from Fort Worth, Texas that formed in 2006 with former members of Terminal. In over a decade's span, Oh, Sleeper has released four full-length albums, two EPs, and toured worldwide as an opening act. Af ...

's album '' Children of Fire'' and was mixed by Machine. The album is focused in

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

, Satan and Number of the beast. The first single is "For the Wicked" and the first video is "Murderer". A few months after the release of ''Baptized in Filth'', Cory Johnson was fired from the band and was replaced by former founding member Manny Contreras, who had become a member of Oblige (later known as The Devastated) during his time off from Impending Doom. Johnson soon after being fired join fellow

Christian metal Christian metal, also known as white metal, Jesus metal or heavenly metal, is heavy metal music distinguished by its Christian themed song lyrics and the dedication of the band members to Christianity. Christian metal is typically performed by ...

band, MyChildren MyBride. Lead vocalist, Brook Reeves, was one of the many vocalists that performed at the Mitch Lucker Memorial Show on December 21, 2012 with

Suicide Silence Suicide Silence is an American deathcore band from Riverside, California. The band was established in 2002, and has released six studio albums, three EPs, and nineteen music videos. They were awarded the ''Revolver'' Golden God award for "Best ...

in honor of their deceased vocalist, Mitch Lucker, who died on November 1, 2012. Reeves performed the song "Ending Is the Beginning", off the 2005 ''

''. On February 26, 2013, Brook Reeves was also featured on the single track "Efforts to Outcomes" by Demise. In January 2013 Eric Correa joined the band as their second guitarist. Correa was Impending Doom's acting guitar tech for 2012's tour cycle. The band entered the studio in New Jersey with Producer Will Putney in May 2013 to record their fifth studio album. Impending Doom will be headlining this summer's

Scream the Prayer Tour The Scream the Prayer Tour, also known as Scream the Prayer, or simply STP, was an American Christian metalcore/Christian hardcore, hardcore music worship tour, presented by INRI Clothing. The tour had been held annually since it began, in mid- ...

. The band confirmed that their album '' Death Will Reign'' would be released through eOne Music on November 5, 2013. In 2016, the first Impending Doom show in three years, took place at the Facedown Fest 2016 on May 14, 2016, in Pomona, California. The band performed at Facedown Fest 2017. Their song, "Murderer", was included on the ''

Killing Floor 2 ''Killing Floor 2'' is a first-person shooter video game developed and published by Tripwire Interactive, with later support from Saber Interactive. It is a sequel to 2009's '' Killing Floor''. An early access version of the game was released fo ...

'' soundtrack. On April 2, 2018, the band released a lyric video for their new single, "The Wretched and Godless", as well as a release date and preorders for their new album, ''

The Sin and Doom Vol. II ''The Sin and Doom Vol. II'' is the sixth studio album by American Christian deathcore Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore ...

''. The album was released on June 22, 2018. On February 24, 2019, Brandon "B-Town" Trahan announced his departure from the band and that his good friend Andrew Holzbaur would be taking over. An EP, ''Hellbent'', with Will Putney mixing, mastering and producing, was initially announced to be released on January 14, 2022, but was instead released early on digital platforms on October 29, 2021 as a surprise release. On July 19, 2022, the band posted on social media that they are working on a follow-up to ''Hellbent'', with Brook Reeves stating they hope to release it "Sooner rather than later."

Music style and influences

Impending Doom performs

, which is a fusion between

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

and

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

.lambgoat.com
"This is deathcore. This is what happens when death metal and hardcore, along with healthy doses of other heavy music styles, are so smoothly blended..." They are influenced by death metal,

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. G ...

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

and

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...

. The band refers to their style of music as "Gorship", which is described by Reeves as "Worshiping God through our gore-sounding music". The band has stated that they are influenced from groups such as

Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by Chino Moreno (vocals, guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Abe Cunningham (drums), and Dominic Garcia (bass). During their first five ...

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream. Originally formed in 1993 ...

, Slipknot,

Lamb of God Lamb of God ( el, Ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, Amnòs toû Theoû; la, Agnus Dei, ) is a title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, "Behold the Lamb of God wh ...

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

Aborted Aborted is a Belgian death metal band formed in 1995 in Waregem. The group currently consists of vocalist, founder and only constant member Sven de Caluwé, guitarist Ian Jekelis, bassist Stefano Franceschini and drummer Ken Bedene. Although th ...

, Guttural Secrete,

Origin Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * Origin (comics), ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * The Origin (Buffy comic), ''The Origin'' (Bu ...

Despised Icon Despised Icon is a Canadian deathcore band from Montreal, Quebec. Formed in 2002, the band is noted for the talent of its drummer, Alex Pelletier, who makes frequent use of the blasting technique, as well as for its dual lead vocalists; Alex E ...

and

Ion Dissonance Ion Dissonance is a Canadian mathcore band from Montreal, Quebec. They are known for their technical style, which switched to a more groove based style with the release of their 2007 album ''Minus the Herd''. In total, the group have released ...

. In various interviews, the band members have stated they draw influences from bands such as

Meshuggah Meshuggah () is a Swedish extreme metal band formed in Umeå in 1985. Originally, the band's name was Metallien. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Jens Kidman, guitarists Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström, drummer Tomas ...

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

Napalm Death Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in 1981 in Meriden, West Midlands. None of the band's original members has been in the group since 1986. But since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch ...

Suffocation Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can i ...

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

Cannibal Corpse Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York in 1988, now based out of Tampa, Florida. The band has released fifteen studio albums, two box sets, four video albums, and two live albums. The band has had little radi ...

The Acacia Strain The Acacia Strain is an American metalcore band originally from Chicopee, Massachusetts. They are currently signed to Rise Records. The band has released ten full-length albums. History Forming in 2001, The Acacia Strain was started by h ...

As I Lay Dying ''As I Lay Dying'' is a 1930 Southern Gothic novel by American author William Faulkner. Faulkner's fifth novel, it is consistently ranked among the best novels of 20th-century literature.The New Lifetime Reading Plan: The Classical Guide to Wor ...

Killswitch Engage Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999 after the disbanding of Overcast (band), Overcast and Aftershock. Killswitch Engage's current lineup consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, guitarists Joe ...

Morbid Angel Morbid Angel is an American death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling ...

, and many other bands. In an interview Metalriot.com, Brook Reeves has said he is influenced by

Underoath Underoath (stylized as Underøath or UnderOath) is an American rock band from Tampa, Florida. It was founded by lead vocalist Dallas Taylor and guitarist Luke Morton on November 30, 1997, in Ocala, Florida; subsequently, its additional member ...

Living Sacrifice Living Sacrifice is an American Christian metal band formed in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1989. The band has released eight studio albums, out of which the first three were recorded under R.E.X. Records with their original vocalist Darren Johnso ...

Advent Advent is a Christian season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity. The name was adopted from Latin "coming; arrival", translating Greek ''parousia''. In ...

, Sinai Beach, Aborted,

Cattle Decapitation Cattle Decapitation is an American deathgrind band from San Diego, California, formed in 1996. The band's current lineup includes vocalist Travis Ryan, guitarists Josh Elmore and Belisario Dimuzio, bassist Olivier Pinard, and drummer David McGr ...

Septicflesh Septicflesh (formerly known as Septic Flesh) are a Greek death metal band from Athens, founded in 1990. History Septicflesh were formed in Athens in March 1990 by Sotiris Vayenas (guitar), Spiros Antoniou (bass and vocals), and Christos Ant ...

, and many other underground death metal bands.

Band members

Current * Brook Reeves – vocals (2005–present) * David Sittig – bass (2006–present) * Manny Contreras – lead guitar (2005–2010, 2012–present); rhythm guitar (2021–present); bass (2005) * Andrew Holzbaur – drums (2019–present) Former * Jon Alfaro – bass (2005–2006) * Chris Forno – rhythm guitar (2005–2007); lead guitar (2006–2007); bass (2005) * Greg Pewthers – rhythm guitar (2006–2008) * Andy Hegg – drums (2007–2008) * Chad Blackwell – drums (2008–2009) * Isaac Bueno – drums (2005–2007, 2009) * Cory Johnson – rhythm guitar (2008–2012); lead guitar (2010–2012) * Brandon "B-Town" Trahan – drums (2009–2019) * Eric Correa – rhythm guitar (2012–2021) Touring * Jake Foust – rhythm guitar (2010) * Phil Dubois-Coyne – drums (2011) * Tobey Lundberg – rhythm guitar (2022–present) Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

EPs * ''The Sin and Doom of Godless Men (Demo)'' (2005) * ''Hellbent'' (2021) Singles * "The Wretched and Godless" (2018) * "Satanic Panic" (2021) Music videos

References

External links

* {{Authority control Christian extreme metal groups American deathcore musical groups Death metal musical groups from California Musical groups established in 2005 Musical quartets MNRK Music Group artists American Christian metal musical groups Musical groups from Riverside County, California 2005 establishments in California