from take it mag,in germany
I gotta admit that IMMORTALLY COMMITTED mainly caught my attention in the first place because of the fact that VIRGIN STEELE's David DeFeis played keyboards and sang back up vocals on one of their tunes. But when I finally heard that particular song ('Epic', which despite DeFeis contribution is really one of their best yet!), I already knew that there was obviously a lot more talent involved and that these guys certainly don't need cheap name dropping in order to gain attention. IMMORTALLY COMMITTED was formed in New York back in 1989 by guitarist Craig Besmer and originally started out with five members. But when lead guitarist Jay Banks and singer Brian Mahoney left they simply went on as a four piece. Joe Totillo took over the vocal duties and their originally rather Thrash influenced sound got replaced by a more diverse and unique musical approach. You'll easily get the picture when you find out that the members of the band are influenced by a big variety of bands, such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Non-Fiction, Iron Maiden, Kansas, Fates Warning, Dream Theater or Hades. In 1999, the first IMMORTALLY COMMITTED CD, a ten track offering entlitled "Committed For Life" saw the light of day (this is actually the album that features David DeFeis on the track 'Epic') and during summer / autumn 2000 the band returned to the studio to record their follow-up album, "Epic II - Satan's Return", which came out in early 2001. What I got here is a CD-R collection of songs from both CD's, as well as four advance tracks from their third offering, which they are currently writing / recording. Musically it's very hard to pinpoint, but somehow it's traditional Heavy Metal, just with a whole lot of outside influences, ranging from past to present Thrash, Epic, Power or whatever Metal. They come up with some great melody lines, even though the overall sound of the band comes across very dark and heavy. One thing's for sure � you gotta be really open minded to appreciate this unique mixture. But if you are, you'll easily experience a roller coaster ride of emotions while listening to their well done compositions. Check out the MP3's on their website (http://www.geocities.com/immortallycommitted2002/main.html) to get a little taster of things to come... and if you like what you hear, feel free to order their CD's (both are still available for 10$ each), from this address: http://www.truemetal.org/immortallycommitted/ Email: [email protected]

Frank St�ver
from enter the veil web zine
IMMORTALLY COMMITED
Immortally Committed
Hmmm...The first thing that came to my mind when I listened to Immortally Commiteed for the first time was "Interesting!!!" and then "Original!!!". Yes! These words are suitable enough to describe what they are trying to do. This 13 track cd will offer you neverending pleasure. Once you get on board, the trip starts and won't end unless you reach your final destination and why not?? Start the trip once again? You might not be able to get a crystal clear idea for their music and you might think that I am raving, but the truth is that even I, after listening to them again and again, am not able to place them in a specific branch. Generally I'd say that they play this new style of power metal introduce mainly by NEVERMORE. However, you will also be abl to listen to some brutal and death metal riffs and vocals, changing rhythms and all the songs have an epic atmosphere. Add to all of the above the participation of DAVID DE FEIS (VIRGIN STEELE) in two songs. If you ask me, I insist to all metalheads to listen to them, cause originallity should be pointed out. Congratulations guys! You have positively surprised me!!!
*9/10
Christine  "azriel"  Parastatidou
from wretched productions
Immortally Committed (U.S.)- "Committed 4 Life" (1998) and "Epic II- The Return of Satan" (2000)
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!
www.truemetal.org/immortallycommitted or http://msnhomepages.talkcity.com/PrintersAlley/immortally or Email: [email protected]

Immortally Committed
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 demo, 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, 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. - Nick Parisi
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