Immolation - Majesty and Decay

I never figured out why Immolation didn’t manage to make a name for themselves in the Death Metal scene. Maybe they are one of these bands that, when it comes to the above mentioned question the easy answer is “it just didn’t happened”. I don’t really thing that with “Majesty and Decay” they will succeed in what they’ve been struggling for 20 years now. That would be too optimistic and I’m not an optimistic person but this album, their first release under Nuclear Blast, sounds quite impressive. What we’ll listen to here? What else? Supersonic riffing, thundering rhythm section and growling vocals straight from the pits of hell. “A common death metal release” someone might notice but things aren’t exactly that. There’s a pretty impressive work concerning the guitars, as Immolation seem to have decided to give up the good old “grinding” method, which is a trade mark of death metal when it comes to the guitar sound, and work more on the riffing which with the constant changing manages to keep the audience interested.
\r\nDon’t expect to listen to some crazy shredding stuff or progressive rhythm section, after all it’s Immolation we’re reviewing here, not Death (R.I.P. Chuck) anyway “Majesty and Decay” sounds very interesting without lacking in power or speed. On this result the production plays a crucial role since it gives the songs the boost they need to stand out. Another thing I’d like to mention is the amazing work on the cover artwork.
\r\nAs I mentioned before, I don’t think that with “Majesty and Decay” Immolation will claim their rightful place among the “popular” death metal bands, what they will definitely do, is keep their fans happy (or aggressive..). After all, that’s what metal’s all about.
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\r\nDimitris Karantounias\r\n