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IMMOLATION
Descent

Nuclear Blast (2026)
Rating: 8/10

That old school spidery logo just hasn’t seemed the same since New York death metal clan Immolation issued its debut full-length, Dawn Of Possession, way back in 1991. Even with the new album artwork, that logo seems subdued and almost out of place, but that’s just my nostalgic brain yearning for those exciting times. Even so, the latest entry into the Immolation discography is a very good one, Descent giving me what I anticipated – dense blustery riffs, chesty vocal growls, and that sense of well constructed morbidity and, dare I say it, orchestral flair.

Immolation remains a formidable entity, crafting ghastly passages of truly sinister and bludgeoning prowess. The stray towards a punishing death / doom grind is evident throughout, even with the pacier elements as the combo layers its sound with thick blankets of gloom and dense plumes of suffocating cloud.

The album is a canopy of twisting riffs, colossal torrents which showcase the brutal powers of guitarists Robert Vigna and Alex Bouks. Everything they create is abyssal, cavernous and heavily atmospheric. The drums of Steve Shalaty are staggering at times, and the track ‘The Ephemeral Curse’ has been on heavy rotation on my stereo – a truly gargantuan composition where Shalaty provides some monstrously perverse percussion. Hints of Morbid Angel can be detected with the dynamic of the riffage and then there’s the miasmic ooze of the bass of vocalist Ross Dolan whose feats are all too often overlooked. He comes into his own with the varying pace shifts on the titanic ‘God’s Last Breath’ and the steady swirls of ‘Bend Towards The Dark’.

Everything served on this album is wholesome and familiar, yet forever ingrained in chasms of damp darkness. Descent is also a reminder as to why Immolation remains so underrated in the death metal genre; they don’t suffer fools or buck to trend, they simply do what they do best and that’s build burly pieces of extreme art summed up by the stable wafts of ‘Host’ and the warped structures of the title track.

Immolation has an arrogant sound, something so monolithic without being flashy or cheap n’ nasty with horror and gore effects; the massive shifts and unending twists are what make the band so inviting. ‘These Vengeful Winds’ is streaked with melodic glints which angle towards the expansive and celestial as the guitars offer subtlety amidst the blackness. Meanwhile, ‘Attrition’ trudges and traipses, enveloping its own musicianship in a layer of ash as each riff sends out grey plumes of choking smoke.

Everything here is all immediately accessible, rarely straying from the damp paths in spite of such seismic changes. Yes, there’s technicality within the density, but the aim of Immolation has never been to confuse. Their hideous and impenetrable swirls of fog have always been the dominant factor in a career which spans the decades. Immolation’s 12th offering is most certainly worth the descent for listeners old and new.

Neil Arnold

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