Album Review: Immolation - Descent
Reviewed by Rich Oliver
There are few bands that have the tenacity, consistency and enduring appeal than Immolation. The New York death metal legends have stuck to their guns throughout their entire career never wavering from their vision and releasing some of the most timeless and influential death metal committed to tape from their 1991 debut “Dawn Of Possession” to seething malevolent death metal assaults such as 2000’s “Close To A World Below”, 2010’s “Majesty And Decay” and 2017’s “Atonement”.
With their twelfth album “Descent”, the band continue their path of dissonant and twisted death metal which manages to be equally atmospheric, malevolent and brutally heavy. Immolation goes completely on the attack with songs such as ‘These Vengeful Winds’, ‘The Ephemeral Curse’ and the crushing title track being relentless, supercharged blasts of death metal glory whilst the band’s more atmospheric side comes out in songs such as ‘God’s Last Breath’, ‘Attrition’ and ‘Host’ which, whilst equally as aggressive as anything else on the album, slows the pace somewhat bringing a far more brooding and sinister feel to the music. The most leftfield song on the album is the instrumental ‘Banished’ which sees Immolation in pure atmospheric form with sinister guitars, strings and atmospheric synths.
The same line up remains that has been for the last ten years and is a well oiled machine with this being the third Immolation album recorded by this line up. The guitar team of Robert Vigna and Alex Bouks unleash a cacophony of crushing and unsettling riffs and some slick solos. Steve Shalaty on the drums unleashes hell with his ferocious blast beats and double kick attacks threatening the structural integrity of your home whilst Ross Dolan unleashes low end attacks with his bass playing and his unmistakable roar which is a weapon of vocal destruction.
“Descent” is another masterclass in death metal from one of the most reliable and consistent bands in the game. Immolation manage to sound old school enough to please the veteran fans but also contemporary enough to capture a younger audience. The sound on “Descent” is equally violent, atmospheric, vast and malevolent. Whilst you generally know what you are getting with an Immolation album, the band shows that they still have a few tricks up their sleeves 37 years in and have no plans on sitting comfortably and becoming just a veteran act. Immolation remain to be one of the essential bands in death metal.
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