Immolation churn out quality death metal albums like a proverbial conveyor belt of downtuned ugliness. Moreover the bands longevity and never ending workhorse attitude is something we should applaud as they approach their 25th year in existence. The bands eighth and truly stunning album sees them set the bar so high in death metal this year that this album may stand alone in its brilliance.
A short creepy intro begins the album before a cataclysmic bass bombardment erupts forth on “The Purge”. The sound is crushingly heavy with inordinately fast blasts. “A Token Of Malice” has a slightly different riff style before the song sets off at rocket pace, creating an uncontrolled chaotic feel. There is a deep permeating resonance that cloys at your ears like infesting slimy tendrils. The title track is a bulldozing, ball battering monster of a song with a devastatingly infectious riff. The density of the song clings remorselessly like you’re drowning in tar. The speed returns on “Divine Code” with a pulverising beat and a terrific eeriness that oozes like thick sludge from the speakers.
“A Glorious Epoch” has a wondrous doom like density that is dripping with double bass and is packed with menacing groove. “A Thunderous Consequence” sounds even heavier due to it following a relatively mild interlude and is appropriately titled. By the time “The Rapture Of Ghosts” arrives your entire existence feels battle weary, beaten and bruised, yet yearning for more, which you get on the albums closing tracks of “Power And Shame” a much faster blaster and “The Comfort Of Cowards” which batters you senseless with its double bass bludgeoning.
When you hear albums like this all the fuss about deathcore being so heavy is insignificant as this album makes deathcore sound like lounge music in comparison. This is a monumental album with a fantastic atmosphere that is relentless, savage and truly terrifying.
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