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September 7, 2008 |
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01. Swarm Of Terror
02. Our Savior Sleeps
03. Challenge The Storm
04. Harnessing Ruin
05. Dead To Me
06. Son Of Iniquity
07. My Own Enemy
08. Crown The Liar
09. At Mourning's Twilight
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New York - both city and state - have long been the spawning ground of some of the more brutal ores of Metal to strafe the airwaves with black-steel-tempered malevolent intent; namely Death Metal, that undying beast we've all held so close to our benighted hearts lo' these many moons now. CANNIBAL CORPSE. INCANTATION. SUFFOCATION. MORTICIAN. All have proven that the churning, bludgeoning fury of the Death Metal monster does indeed contain enough sonic bile and pestilence to have rightfully earned a longstanding place deep within the shadowy fathoms of Metal's darker psychic realms.
Add to that esteemed list the long-battling entity that is IMMOLATION (Ross Dolan bass/vox, Bill Taylor/guitar, Robert Vigna/guitar, and Steve Shalaty/drums). In case you've been living under a rock, in some Godforsaken little town miles away from a decent record store, or worse yet, listening to STRYPER(!?!), you should be aware that ever since '88, these guys have been spreading the Death Metal manifesto of downtuned, uber-rhythmic chaos and Christ-hating mayhem that has become their signature sound. While yet to break through the ranks to the level of say, reigning overlords CANNIBAL CORPSE, IMMOLATION are nevertheless perennial 'second-tier' faves considered by many in the Death Metal camp to be within perhaps the 'Top 10' or so among leading acts of this grim subgenre, due in no small part to the general critical success afforded such releases as 91's debut 'Dawn Of Possession' thru 96's 'Here In After, 99's 'Failures For Gods', 00's 'Close To A World Below', and 02's 'Unholy Cult'.
Well, after a couple'a' years of extensive touring, IMMOLATION are back with their latest slice of terror in 'Harnessing Ruin' on Olympic Recordings. And what can one say about this latest chapter in their godless onslaught, you ask? Well, to be honest, whenever I review a Death Metal album I have to admit...I tend to find myself at somewhat of a loss for words. Maybe it's my poseresque tendencies (I still throw on WHITESNAKE from time to time y'see...although NEVER anything by STRYPER!), or perhaps I simply hear things on a different frequency than those who lap this sort of offal so greedily from Leatherface's trough...but really, for the most part, I find it all starts to sound the same to me after awhile. Sorry. Just being honest. If I had to say anything in particular about IMMOLATION's sound - and I do have to say something - it would be that the material on offer on 'Harnessing Ruin' is certainly of at least a somewhat-above-average quality,
i.e. in possession of a certain 'groove' of riffage, and enough darkly engaging BM-influenced atmospheric peaks 'n valleys to keep me interested past Beer #3. But still, this is Death Metal and as such...man...with the exception of some of the true originators of the form (NILE anyone!?!)...as I said, it does - as is the case with many similiar acts - lack the presence of the sort of definitive and true innovation and originality the subgenre currently needs to breath some much-needed new life into the proceedings. Don't get me wrong. This is some pretty good material here. Extremely solid. It’s all very dark and brutal. There are definitely more than enough hooky riffs and impressive leads to be found. You can bang your head to it and throw the horns with pride. But it is still pretty plain, meat n' potatoes fare at the end of the day.
I honestly can't pick out anything in the way of 'fave tracks' simply because it all rumbles along with a very acceptably pummelling, yet ultimately faceless and anonymous roar. I mean really...what can I tell you about the riffs and the blastbeats in 'Swarm Of Terror' that I can't likewise say about 'Challenge Of The Storm', or the title track, and so on, and so on??? If you already own say, MORBID ANGEL's 'Blessed Are The Sick', NILE's 'In Their Darkened Shrines', or anything by CANNIBAL...I really don't see why you would have a burning desire to hop on the bus right this second and part with your last twenty dollar bill for this. At the very least you wouldn't be missing much if you waited until your next cheque to pick it up. Let's put it this way: I don't mind this album at all. I'll even go as far as to say that by strict DM standards it's pretty damned good. It just isn't doing anything to make me fall head over heels in love with it is all.
Really, 'Harnessing Ruin' is an album for Death Metal purists and diehard IMMOLATION fans alone. These folks I can assure, will not be disappointed in the least and will enjoy this piece of work to its fullest, all the while hurling expletives at this review...and me, for failing to fully grasp the genius contained within. Suffice to say that - as stated - for me this is a decent enough Death Metal release from a band who have, at the very least, stayed the course and held the proverbial banner both 'troo' and high. In short, if you like Death Metal, and if you like IMMOLATION, you will doubtless also like 'Harnessing Ruin'. For those who don't fall into either of those categories, I suggest you find something else to listen to as this album will likely do little to change your impressions of either the band or their subgenre of choice. To quote our own modern-day Socrates, Forrest Gump: "That's all I have to say about that."
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