Impending Doom

In 2005 the Riverside, California outfit Impending Doom introduced a self-coined style they called “gorship,” channeling Christian death metal’s brutality into an act of worship while simultaneously warning, in their own words, of “society’s inevitable destructive collapse.” The group first reached mainstream listeners four years later with its second album, The Serpent Servant. Later full-lengths There Will Be Violence (2010), Death Will Reign (2013), The Sin and Doom, Vol. 2 (2018), and Hellbent (2021) sustained the same mission of preaching through sonic extremity.

Founding guitarists Manny Contreras and Greg Pewthers, vocalist Brook Reeves, bassist David Sittig, guitarist Chris Forno, and drummer Isaac Bueno formed the initial lineup. After Forno, Pewthers, and Bueno departed, Cory Johnson, Chad Blackwell, and David Sittig joined the core trio of Contreras, Reeves, and Sittig. Under this revised roster the band issued its debut EP, The Sin and Doom of Godless Men, on its own imprint, then signed with Facedown Records and delivered the 2007 debut album Nailed. Dead. Risen, which reworked several tracks from the earlier EP. Early 2009 brought the Facedown release The Serpent Servant, followed the next year by There Will Be Violence, recorded with new drummer Brandon Trahan of xDeathstarx. Baptized in Filth appeared on E1 Music in early 2012, produced by Andreas Magnusson of the Black Dahlia Murder and the Famine and featuring the singles “Murderer” and “Deceiver.” The 2013 effort Death Will Reign, issued by eOne, reached the Top Ten of Billboard’s Christian Albums and Hard Rock Albums charts. Returning to longtime producer Will Putney, the band released the five-song Hellbent EP in 2021.