Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Immolation
Label: Century Media
Release: 2007
Two years have passed since the band’s last record, Harnessing Ruin, and it’s time for New York death metal wreckers Immolation to make their return. And they’re coming back in triumph, doing what they’ve always done best – ignoring and beating the clichés of death metal. Immolation have been bombarding us for more than ten years with a unique, chilling sound and their own take on extreme music. Shadows in the Light is no different, 40 minutes of pure death metal carnage!
On their previous record, Harnessing Ruin (2005), Immolation allowed themselves a bit more experimentation, mostly the whispered and spoken parts I have in mind, but Shadows in the Light pours gasoline on a fire that’s been burning for ten years and, for some, smoldered for a while… Now it’s rising high into the sky and glowing brighter than ever. The destructive force of Immolation simply can’t be stopped. For a decade the band’s music has stayed consistently good and interesting (which you could hardly say about 90% of death metal bands), and you’d be hard-pressed to find a weak moment in their discography. Every record has its own distinctive sound, yet stays true to its roots in that evil sound. About Immolation I can say they were never brutal just because that’s what they’re supposed to be, they never bowed to the guidelines of modern metal and never played games with image and publicity… they’ve always stood behind the music, the passion and the energy that has been driving the Immolation machine for years.
On Shadows in the Light the quartet brings breakneck compositions, epic guitar “leads” and ominous harmonies, the very things that put them on the death metal map and made them leaders of innovation and atmosphere in the genre. The record opens with Hate’s Plague, the band’s shortest track so far, but it makes up for the length with brutality, and the mid-tempo “bridge” especially shines, introducing those derailed Immolation riffs. Passion Kill shifts into a higher gear and recalls the band’s Metal Blade years, especially with its mace-heavy riff that reminds me of Failures For Gods. Once the opening riff leaves us lying in a puddle of blood, a lightning-fast “chord-progression” is already waiting, with the intervals that shone on Close to a World Below. The trio of World Agony, Tarnished and The Weight of Devotion keeps up the bombardment, hurling us straight onto the Eastern Front of World War II – relentless shelling, menacing Stuka dive-bombing, a bomb dropping every few seconds… An assault only Immolation are capable of writing, and one that typified the band’s output all the way up to Harnessing Ruin. Shadows in the Light brings probably the best solos Vigna has ever written, brilliantly signaled by the lead/rhythm interplay, the “pinch” harmonics and the constant tempo changes.
Although the overall feel of the record is controlled chaos, Shadows in the Light is far from lacking “groove”. This isn’t the kind of groove made by modern metal bands, but the kind created by guitars with all sorts of “slides”, “bends” and “pinches” that give the music its hellish atmosphere. Toward the end of the record we get a fantastic title track, a mini EP about terrorism and contempt for organized religion, closed out by an almost “Wagnerian” riff. Immolation are known for great closing tracks (Christ’s Cage, The Devil I Know and Close to a World Beyond), and this time is no different with Whispering Death. Although the song’s structure is more direct than its predecessors, the riffs are every bit as hellish and demonic.
The production on the record is superb – the guitars have just the right ominous sound, Shalaty is a technically outstanding drummer, and Dolan’s voice sounds like he’s been drinking battery acid since the start of his career, yet his brutal roar is at the same time perfectly intelligible.
Immolation are becoming a death metal institution while remaining one of the most overlooked bands in the genre, which for many makes them an undiscovered gem. Seven studio albums are already behind the legendary Yonkers crew, and I still wonder whether they ever intend to reach the top. Sail with Immolation down the fiery rivers of Hell!
Lineup
Ross Dolan – bass, vocals
Bill Taylor – guitar
Robert Vigna – guitar
Steve Shalaty – drums
Production
Paul Orofino
Track list
1. Hates Plague
2. Passion Kill
3. World Agony
4. Tarnished
5. Weight Of Devotion
6. Breathing The Dark
7. Deliver Of Evil
8. Shadows In The Light
9. Lying With Demons
10. Whispering Death
