IMPAKT! is a Finnish Synth Pop trio based in Tampere, Finland. Their music is a catchy mix of Synth Pop ear candy spiced up with 90s EBM and tinge of Future Pop. The band, formed in 2010, reached wider audience after winning Club Schatten’s (Tampere, Finland) annual song contest last year. IMPAKT!’s debut album, ‘Imperia’, jumped into #5 on DAC (German Alternative Charts) immediately after its release.
However, the men behind IMPAKT! are no newbies: in fact, they collaborated already in the mid-eighties. Their background consists not only of electronic projects (such as the acclaimed ADVANCED ART in the early nineties), but also folk and rock. As one would expect, ‘Imperia’ is thus a very strong debut album.
Very DEPECHE MODE-like ‘Coil Around Your Soul’ is a smashing opener. ‘Tie Your Wings Down’ is equally powerful, but would benefit from better production. The album has a couple of mellower tracks, too, but IMPAKT! is clearly at its best while steamrolling the listener with its contagious pop anthems and throbbing rhythms.
The closing tracks – contest winner ‘We Own The Night’ and stout ‘For Our Lost Empire’ – belong to the best ones on the album. Although there is a fair dose of cheese here, I can but admit that a few bands in the Synth/ Future Pop/ EBM scene have internalized the concept of a perfect pop song the way IMPAKT! has.