Reviews : Albums : Immolation, "Close to a World Below"
Email the reviewerImmolation, "Close to a World Below"
When you listen to Immolation, you know you are listening to really extremely heavy death metal. There's no way around that aspect of their music. The guitars are tuned extra low, the drummer is playing frantically, and Ross Dolan's vocals are about as deep as they come (well, close at least). On the band's fourth full-length release, Close to a World Below, none of these aspects of Immolation have changed. In fact they may have even been intensified. These New Yorkers really know how to lay down a wall of sound. The music is extremely busy and dense, yet the songs seem agonized and slow much of the time. It is a strange combination that takes some getting used to. Tracks like "Higher Coward" and "Unpardonable Sin" are good examples of the band's use and abuse of this technique?though the rest of the disc has quite the same flavor. Moreover, the artwork on this album is probably Immolation's best to date, and that's saying quite a bit since the band has been using Andreas Marschall for most (including this one) of their work. If you have found yourself enjoying their rather unique blend of styles on Here In After or Failures for Gods, Close to a World Below will be your ticket to hell. On the other hand, jumping right in with this album may be difficult if you enjoy your music either faster (in a more traditional sense) or easier to digest on first listen. Regardless, it is worth the effort even if heavy, technical death is not your favorite.
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