IMMORTALLY COMMITTED - faq & reviews

IMMORTALLY COMMITTED - "Committed for Life" & "Epic II - Satan's Return"

I have to admit when I first contacted this band and got the materials, I thought I was dealing with a Death Metal outfit. Boy, was I ever wrong. But you have to admit, with a name like this, it's easy to assume that. IC has been around 12 freaking years! Where the hell was I when these guys were just surfacing? Man, I hate when that shit happens! The worst part is these guys are kick-ass! The band also has a nice working relationship with North Babylon's Virgin Steele; actually David Defeis with a bit of vocal help on a track on "Committed..", "Epic" and some lessons to Craig Besmer on keyboards; Craig is the founder of IC.

Immortally Committed play some great Metal and both these releases are extremely good even though I thought the debut was better and more memorable. "C4L" is a 10-track gem with hints of Helstar, Heretic, Solitude Aeturnus and Metal Church with a couple doomier songs in the Confessor, Memory Garden sense. Vocals are interesting since we have a mixture of high,normal and sometimes growly like Death Metal. The higher and normal ones I would give a good comparison to D.C.Cooper, Scheepers,Viscera and Lance King. The growly stuff just reminds me of what Sentenced does with their songs.

"Epic II.." isn't any sort of dive into the monotonous 80's cliched subject of the devil but deals more with the news; terrorists and people that just get a thrill harming innocent people. The album is darker theme-wise but musically some of these songs sound more alternative like Soungarden/AIC ("Shut Up!" and "Drift" for example) but there's others that just kick ass and the vocals are even a bit different; more of a Halford/"Ripper" Owens approach with the same addiion of the debut's growly, more assertive backing vocals.

IC is currently working on new material and possibly another visit by Defeis as well on the release..time will tell. IC is a quality band and the best way I can put it in terms is if you were to see them live, they would be a great act to add with the bands Powers Court and Twisted Tower Dire as the music resembles both those bands in one form or another but none of them sound like the other. True veterans of the underground will know what I'm talking about!

review by: Quintessence Metal Webzine

IMMORTALLY COMMITTED - "Committed for Life"

Don’t let the band’s name fool ya. Immortally Committed is not your typical hard core death metal band. They’re a classic-style heavy metal band with way too much melodic sense to be saddled with the hard core label.
On this eleven-song self-titled work, the band displays the ability to play in all tempos, sometimes within the same song (see: “Sorry Too Late”).
Vocalist Joe Totillo showcases good range throughout along with the good sense to, in general, save his Halford-esque high range for accenting purposes only. This comes across especially well on “Unchallenged,” during which Totillo overdubs some piercing screams on top of some gutteral, early Pantera-like growls.
The backwards message bit to open the CD is hackneyed (and more than a little pointless, given that you can’t spin a CD backwards... as far as I know), though one can also view it as another tip of the hat to classic, old school metal which the band (Totillo, guitarist Craig Besmer, bassist Jeff Beavers, and drummer Mike Festa) plays exceedingly well.

review by: Nick Parisi