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IMMOLATION “Descent”
IMMOLATION “Descent”
By: Lord Randall
I’ve intentionally shied away from reviewing certain bands over time, either due to a blatant dislike or an appreciation that bordered on the slavish, knowing that both would result in a bias leaning heavily on one side or the other. DRAGONFORCE lies on one end of that seesaw, IMMOLATION the opposite. As I suffered through the latest album of the former, I felt the Noo Yawk-based death metal stalwarts were deserving of the same, so let us begin the descent into…”Descent”…
Imagine, for a moment, a pastoral scene; maybe something of John Bradley or Frederic Edwin Church. But only for a moment. Now, imagine that sense of tranquility shredded as “These Vengeful Winds” uproots trees, levels huts and lays waste to crops, because that’s the feeling this opener gives. “The Ephemeral Curse” is a riff machine, and here’s something about IMMOLATION – there’s a lot happening just under the surface, nuances, light touches of melody or mayhem hidden under the anvil-heavy production that may escape even the trained ear at first listen but reveal themselves in subsequent listens. Not many bands even attempt such, and even fewer succeed, but that’s just what we get with the quartet – and have for at least half of its career.
“Adversary” flames triumphant, the “fury of a thousand suns” mentioned in the lyrics taking musical shape in our ears and craniums, igniting. Just this side of surgical, the leads and guitar patterns in “Bend Towards The Dark” evoke what IRON MAIDEN may sound like as a death metal band, “False Ascent” grinding unceasingly, the rhythm section solid as bedrock, more than a framework for the anti-sermons found herein.
I hesitate to call closer “Descent” a title track, such is the weight and density of what’s being conjured. Imagine, for a moment, a planet; maybe in some far-off galaxy, some tranquility of silence our pitiful sense cannot fathom. But only for a moment. Now, imagine that planet shaken off its axis, out of its orbit, splintered and hurled towards an unsuspecting Earth. That planet is “Descent”.
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