Awaiting a new album from one of your favorite bands can be an unnerving affair. How on earth are they going to keep up to the standard of the previous albums? Have they made some badly advised stylistic changes? Can they... Could they? Is it possible... Is there some way they can get better? A titillating prospect, for sure, and I'll be damned if Immolation haven't done just that. Come to think of it, the fact that I listen to Immolation probably is enough to damn me, as these men aren't exactly the kind who want you to read the Watchtower Bible, at least not without a broad, mocking grin on your face.

Immolation have kept their style of truly vicious, dark death metal intact and are still basing their songs on killer, mean-sounding riffs. They throw in some amazingly effective guitar solos, something that isn't exactly a trend in this genre, and keep on honing their already impressive songwriting skills. Expect discordance, dissonance, yet catchiness and even atmosphere. Immolation haven't gone completely mad like Gorguts, but manage to keep a certain openness to their sound that I think might even attract people who generally aren't fans of the genre, while also forcing death metal fans to put on bibs before pressing "play".

There aren't any big differences from Immolation's previous album Close To A World Below, but the band have added a few repeating sections, marches if you will, which really opens up their songs. And don't mistake these repetitive sections for laziness and lack of ideas, as they're rather there to enhance the strengths of the rest of the songs, bringing to mind a horde stomping their way through the fields to hunt down anyone who harbors even the slightest hint of respect for Jehovah. The lyrics here are pure antichristian ballyhoo, but are surprisingly effective for what they are, especially when taken in the context of what is happening in the music.

It's interesting to see how good this band has managed to become, despite never being the weirdest, the most technical, the most brutal, or the fastest death metal band. I am however tempted to say that they've got more taste than anyone else in the field, though it's admittedly a genre where subtlety isn't generally a sought-after trait.

It's seldom you hear an album where everything comes together so well, and while bands like Harakiri and Cephalic Carnage have already made this a great year for death metal, I dare say Immolation have released the death metal album of 2002.

Review by Øystein H-O

Review date: 12/2002

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