It's been a while since I've listened to something of this magnitude. To set the record straight, first and foremost, this is death metal in its most fanatical form (in case you thought a band named Impaled was adult contemporary) -- gristly vocals, gruesome lyrics and a sound that's insurmountable in its dedication to speed and horror.

A brief perusal of The Dead Shall Dead Remain's lyrics will leave you either stricken with horror or bizarrely amused. An example from "Trocar" boasts "Muscles are imbued with a gelatinous mix/Prepatent secretions from your bowel make me sick" among its lyrical lines to live by...or is that by which to die? Either way, Impaled takes pride in its extremity. The lyrics are deftly written to make your stomach churn with impending sickness as the guitar lines blur past your ears, practically breaking through the sound barrier. Equally as impressive in moribity is "Faecal Rites," with line after line of fierce vocals that can only be eclipsed by the song's truly distressing, yet strikingly witty "anal"-ysis of a coprophagous celebration.

A bastard child of Cannibal Corpse's disgusting visual conceptualizations and a disciple of the expansive, vocabulary-intensive medical descriptions of Liverpool's Carcass, Impaled will immediately ring a bell of familiarity for those metal fans who thrive on vile, unnerving lines and rhythms performed at breakneck speeds. Ah, this is the stuff that excessive teenage rebellion is made of -- so hunker down and be the next antichrist of your home/school/religious institution/extracurricular activity. It's time to get Impaled!