Reviews : Albums : Immolation, "Dawn of Possession"

In the beginning… (i.e. 1984) there existed Mantas and Morbid Angel. After a slew of demos from both bands and a name change (Mantas to Death), the 90’s rolled around and American Death Metal truly was born. The New York and Tampa schools began in earnest, with pioneers such as Deicide and Suffocation releasing the ‘seminal works’ that eventually lead to international fame and critical acclaim.

As with every musical movement, there are gifted artists whose work goes unrecognized. Others are simply overshadowed by the more popular giants of the time, regardless of their quality and talent. Immolation is one of these bands. While certainly recognized by the metal community, they are unfairly excluded from many lists of top old-school legends.

‘Dawn of Possession’, the band’s 1991 debut, is admittedly not classifiable as an ‘extreme metal’ release by today’s standards, but it does not need to be. Many old school death metal bands survived solely on their (relative) brutality, but Immolation have always had a unique style that transcended the simple heavy tuning and blastbeat, meat-and-potatoes standard. Led by the trailblazing crush of Robert Vigna’s raw, creaking guitar and Ross Dolan’s throaty rumbles, the dauntless Immolation sliced and diced 15 years ago as well as ever, raising them above the ‘boring’ stereotype their genre sometimes is saddled with.

In fact, the techniques and tricks they employed here are still being used today: the maelstrom riffing of modern black metal, the atonal, esoteric solos of progressive death metal. Even the pinch harmonic to some extent (though Immolation’s screeching style does not resemble those of today’s metalcore at all, fear not).

And although Immolation obviously did not invent these techniques, they mastered them here. Perhaps Metal Mind’s re-release will stir the waters enough for this oft-underrated group to finally get the credit its due. Though grey of hair and long in the tooth, ‘Dawn of Possession’ is still surprisingly modern and powerful.

Standout Tracks    Dawn of Possession    Those Left Behind    After My Prayers

Rahn