Review Summary: A ferocious evolution of the complex dissonant songwriting of the band, 'Unholy Cult' continues a stellar run of albums with a couple of new ideas thrown into the mix
Immolation's 'Close To A World Below' is a widely celebrated achievement in death metal music, as can be interpreted from the reviews of the time, and also its enduring legacy on sites such as this one. That album expanded on the dissonant riffing and highly complex compositions of their earlier work, with songs such as the title track expanding the formula into longer time frames and more intricate structures. Following up such a monolithic work would be no easy feat, and yet 2002's 'Unholy Cult' released to good reviews, with Pitchfork stating the songs to be "a juggernaut of seething madness and brute force."
Showcasing some genuine musical evolution in its earliest moments, 'Unholy Cult' opens with an eerie and subdued atmospheric pair of guitars, leaving some notes to ring in what feels like a throwback to "Christ's Cage." This serves as an unsettling introduction to a furious passage that is oh-so-typical of the band. Immolation's sound is one that is almost completely unique, with volatile songwriting that shifts with ease between crushing mid-tempo riffing and showstopping blast beats performed with inhuman precision. The two guitarists frequently end riff cycles with something entirely different from each other, and the way the pair weave in and out of each other finds its closest comparison in something like Gorguts' 'The Erosion Of Sanity.' The opening song, "Of Martyrs And Men" contains all of these hallmarks, and the same can be said for each of the tracks, yet this sound never becomes worn or strained. Instead, 'Unholy Cult' is a consistently engaging listen throughout.
The greatest accomplishment of the band when writing this album was in giving each track something a little different to ensure they remain memorable. "Sinful Nature" transitions from riff to solo with a brief tremolo-picked run that doesn't feel at all out of place, "Wolf Among The Flock" takes an unconventional approach in layering slower and more restrained riffing over its blast beats, and "A Kingdom Divided" utilizes some of the most warped riffing in the band's career in its first minute, with incessant double bass drumming somehow coinciding with stop-start guitars. The complexity of the music here is a cut above the band's previous work, with frenzied sections reminiscent of Cryptopsy's 'Whisper Supremacy' abundant. If early Gorguts and the aforementioned Cryptopsy record were used as a template by a band intent upon adding more extreme aggression into their sound, then this album here would surely be the result.
'Unholy Cult' is a towering achievement that I recommend highly to fans of off-kilter death metal, elevated above its peers by utilizing highly impressive and skillful dissonant riffing occasionally punctured by pinched harmonics as can be found in "Rival The Eminent." The way in which the different instruments are woven together is something to marvel at, anchored by the one constant which is the low-end gruff snarls of Ross Dolan. Whilst not quite hitting the same heights of its predecessor, 'Unholy Cult' still showcases some progression in complexity and never feels like an album where focus has been lost during the songwriting process.
