Review by Paul Castles
Has there been a finer pure death metal act to climb out of the New York sewers over the past 20 years than Immolation? Well, it’s a hard call but these veterans have always played it that little bit meaner than the majority of their contemporaries. Kingdom of Conspiracy is their latest offering and the second courtesy of Nuclear Blast, Sure you kinda know what you’re gonna get with these unforgiving torchbearers of extreme music… and Immolation don’t let you down. But the Yonkers grimebusters have upped their game with Kingdom which seems to delve into ever seedier, darker orifices. Immolation are the kind of band you need to listen to wearing gloves such are the depths of depravity and destruction into which they delve.
From the opening burst of ‘Echoes of Despair’ through to closing number ‘All That Awaits’ you’re simply steamrollered into the ground by wave after wave of pummeling riffs fronted by the gravel scraping voice of Ross Dolan. ‘Indoctrinate’ is another mind-blowing track, lightning start, then a pause, before yet another twisting tornado is unleashed after which your senses are left spinning as though you’ve just stepped off a particularly severe funfair ride. What Immolation have always done so well is to create riffs of knuckle-dusting brutality while ut always remaining innovative, challenging and demanding to be heard. ‘God Complex’ is a typical offering from these underground giants, devilish Dolan bites bouncing off a technically infused rhythm that has the capacity to twist your intestines into knots.
Immolation can combine the macabre and the majestic, not just in the same song but in the same riff. This is music so charged with intensity that you have to complete every hearing from start to finish. There are no shortcuts in the world of Immolation. The New Yorkers are currently embarked on a coast to coast U.S. package of grind grabbing fury with Cannibal Corpse and Napalm Death. That’s the kind of face melting triple header you’d walk over hot coals to see.
8 out of 10
Track listing:
- Echoes Of Despair
- Keep The Silence
- Kingdom Of Conspiracy
- Serving Divinity
- The Great Sleep
- Indoctrinate
- A Spectacle Of Lies
- God Complex
- Bound To Order
- All That Awaits
