IMMOLATION - Majesty and Decay CD
Nuclear Blast
These guys came through town in February while on tour with NILE and KRISIUN. I knew this was about to come out but not till March so as luck would have it the band had some on hand to sell. They only included one new song in their set that night but who the fuck cares this is IMMOLATION and everything they’ve put out over the years is automatically top shelf Death Metal. Now it’s been three long years since their last one Shadows in the Light which was a crushing affair if there ever was one. So knowing the band’s history of not rehashing past glories and always pushing forward for extreme punishment I came to listening to Majesty and Decay with the delight of a sadist with a fresh victim. I’ve had this sitting next to the stereo since mid February, playing it every once in a while, but atleast twice a week. Now after a few months I’m here to tell ya that this is a pretty damm good release. I’d say it’s infectious and will be sitting out in my “must play” stack for a while. Honestly it hasn’t been moved into the stacks since I got it.
Majesty and Decay has some moments of change from previous efforts performed with the traditional methods of devastation. As a guitarist Bob Vigna simply has nothing to prove since he is considered one of the very best in the Death Metal genre. Now most people would stand on those laurels and be done with it but not Vigna because on here his riffs as well as lead work are masterful to say the least. Guitarist Bill Taylor is no slouch either in both areas. As a team they produce beauty and brutality to the point of infectious astonishment. Add to that Dolan’s bass and voice as well as Steve Shalaty’s punishing drum work and this release is a fuckin masterpiece. Favorite songs let me tell ya something “Divine Code” is one I find myself replaying over and over again. Then there’s “A Token of Malice” which is what IMMOLATION have been doing for the past twenty years. The title cut is a ferocious beast of a cut. “A Glorious Epoch” slows things down a bit but to epic proportions. You listen to it and it’s like walking into a knife lined alley. This whole release is like walking through a gauntlet of pain but once you’ve traversed through you turn around to do it again and again. Is this the best damm Death Metal release of 2010? Well so far its damm close to it. The bar has been set!
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