Reviews list for Impaled Nazarene - Ugra-Karma (1993)

The 1993 "Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz..." debut album from Finnish black metallers Impaled Nazarene made a significant impact on me after I picked it up on CD shortly after release. It's blend of simple, catchy, yet still pretty evil sounding black/war metal was really well produced & executed which left me with the impression of an artist that was aware of its limitations & worked really hard at maximizing its strengths. I wasn't surprised that Impaled Nazarene's tongue-in-cheek approach got a few purists noses out of joint (I'm looking at you Ben) but I could manage to look past it in order to take "Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz..." for what it is i.e. one of the more fun black metal releases of its time. So, when news of Impaled Nazarene's sophomore album hit my ears only ten months later, I found myself eagerly reaching into my pocket for another helping.

The "Ugra-Karma" album makes for a very good accompaniment for the band's debut actually as it possesses many of the same traits & qualities. It was recorded by the same lineup in the same recording studio with the same producer & only a short time later so I guess that was to be expected though, wasn't it? It's of a pretty similar quality too so if you liked "Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz..." then you were probably always gonna like "Ugra-Karma" too. The production job is once again extremely solid, making the most of the simple, uncluttered arrangements by presenting them within a tight, rock-solid framework. The drum kit sounds particularly powerful while front man Mika Luttinen's grim black metal vocals are once again a highlight.

The twelve track, 38-minute tracklisting is generally pretty solid with only the misguided industrial black metal piece "Gott ist tot (Antichrist War Mix)" failing to hit the mark. In fact, that particular number fell well below the bar so I've struggled to justify its inclusion to be honest. There's less of the war metal sound that I enjoyed so much on the debut this time but we find Impaled Nazarene replacing it with a punk rock influence that we'd see them expanding on further on future releases. The wonderful "Hate" is by far the best track on the album in my opinion with its incorporation of synthesizers giving it more of a classic Norwegian feel than most of the other material. I also really enjoy the more aggressive & brutal tracks like "Coraxo", "Goatzied" & "Cyberchrist".

"Ugra-Karma" has gone on to become Impaled Nazarene's most highly regarded release over the years & it's not hard to see why as it showcases a flare for violence & brutality wrapped in an air of accessibility, a lethal combination when done just right. There's been very little attempt at any sort of sophistication & there's a place for that sort of record in my life given my history as an old-school tape trader. I do have to admit that I prefer the debut over "Ugra-Karma" though, mainly because I prefer war metal over punk rock by a considerable margin. I also miss the dark Mayhem-style power chord riffs that "Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz..." delivered with such success. However, I've returned to "Ugra-Karma" many times over the years & will likely continue to for some time yet as there's no doubt that it's a very solid example of mid-90's European black metal.

For fans of Sadistik Exekution, Impiety & Belial.

Overrated black metal silliness that's at least an improvement over the debut.

Impaled Nazarene were amazingly prolific in their early years, releasing 3 full length albums within 2 years. But it's not hard to see how they managed that when the music they created didn't really push the boundaries of creativity. Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz introduced the band to the world with all their hateful aggression, but it must be said that the debut was filled with corny nonsense and repetitive structures. Ugra-Karma came along just 10 months later and as that suggests, didn't have a lot else to offer. It does however manage to be more entertaining and slightly less silly (and I mean slightly), but once again this album is massively overrated.

If you take tracks like The Horny and the Horned, Sadhu Satana and Hate by themselves, they are quite enjoyable, somewhat brutal black metal with dark riffs, intense, relentless drumming and venomous vocals spat out over the top. But it all becomes so stale and repetitive by about halfway through the album's thankfully short running time. Sure, they tried to change it up with the atrocity that is Gott Ist Tot (a simply terrible attempt to add an electronic element) but Impaled Nazarene are a one trick pony I'm afraid. I'm giving it a very generous three stars as it is an improvement over the debut and mildly entertaining in small doses.