Review Summary: "On and on, more death awaits."
The sound of hell is upon us. Certain bands and albums, especially in the death metal genre, have a knack for bringing forth vibes of flames and destruction and Immolation are the masters of doing so. Throughout their entire career, they've had the strongest ability to create imagery of fire and death while slamming religion in the process to make their music sound as demonic as possible. Classics like
Dawn of Possession,
Here in After and
Close to a World Below are some of the most hellish albums ever made, not only in death metal, but music in general. The consistency they've shown throughout a period of almost 40 years is impressive in itself so the fact that their newest album,
Descent, is one of their best albums to date shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.
Ross and Rob have always been the lifeblood of Immolation and this album is no different. Rob's style of riffing, actually, could be credited with creating the genre we now know as dissonant death metal. As soon as ‘These Vengeful Winds’ starts, you can feel the heat rising as you're pummeled with disorienting riffage, gutturals that sound as if they're coming from a demon itself and drums that will pound you straight into the depths of Hell. Immolation has never been about melody, and while they certainly display tons of technical ability (of course), they're more worried about creating an atmosphere that makes you feel as if your skin is melting off of your bones. The pinch harmonics courtesy of Rob have been a staple of the band for as long as they've been around, and while some may find it repetitive, it gives the band the signature sound that no other death metal group has been able to emulate. Many have tried, but there is only one Immolation and
Descent is a stark reminder of that.
However, while they've always had an overwhelming darkness surrounding them, this album is even more evil than a lot of their previous output. Each and every track on this amazing album creates an atmosphere of pure despair and there's even more feelings of hopelessness and anguish throughout these 40 minutes than there has been on albums past. Tracks like ‘God's Last Breath’, ‘Attrition’, ‘Bend Towards the Dark’, ‘False Ascent’ and the title track really show the band at their most wicked and sinful. They picked the perfect title for this particular album, because similar to the all-time classic
Close to a World Below, it makes the listener feel as if they really are on a straight descent to the underworld.
Immolation has nothing to prove after decades of being in the death metal spotlight. They clearly are still making music because they feel that they have something left to say, and while some may say that they've already created albums similar to this one, they never fail to bring forth the effort of making the listener feel that desperation and despondency that gives each and every album its place in their discography.
Descent is honestly one of my favorite Immolation albums and on par with their best work because of the overall atmosphere it creates. This album doesn't try to wow you with an overarching sense of speed or technicality, but what it does do is give the listener a sense of dread. That feeling doesn't go away at all throughout the entire runtime and just proves, once again, that Immolation are masters of their death metal craft. As I mentioned earlier, these guys (along with Gorguts) can be credited with creating an entire subgenre within the death metal scene and the dissonance will leave you feeling dazed and confused. While many bands have copied this particular sound in the years since Immolation came to be, nobody can quite do it like the masters and
Descent is just further proof that they're still on the very top of their game after nearly four decades.
