Immolation - Acts of God
Nuclear Blast
Death Metal
15 songs (52:15)
Release year: 2022
Immolation, Nuclear Blast
Reviewed by Goat

Immolation have become a legitimate monster of the death metal scene, never providing anything less than essential albums and proclaiming their unique formula to devastating ends. Acts of God, the band's eleventh and longest yet, is no different. Grandiose, intense, brutal, epic, all of the usual keywords are relevant, yet so tight and fat-free are Immolation here that they have ascended to a quality tier above even excellent albums like 2017's Atonement. This is remarkable, not just that a band that has existed since the 80s is still going strongly but that Acts of God is arguably amongst the best of a very strong discography, which is rare for death metal. We're often lucky if bands produce albums even a quarter as solid as their classic work, and often we throw praise around just for having not let us down too badly!

Arguably, Immolation deserve godhood for making an album so dense and rich that even the interludes are unskippable. From the musicianship to the songwriting, this is flawless. The guitar playing of Robert Vigna is hall of fame-worthy even when examined outside of a death metal setting, twisting riffs into unimaginable new shapes and releasing them to cavort alongside Steve Shalaty's precise drumming. Vigna is approaching the same sort of status as a genre-distorting icon in death metal as Voivod's Piggy did for thrash, which is no throwaway statement. Although Immolation have preferred to stick closer to their base of blasphemous darkness rather than aiming for progressive stars twinkling in the distance, it's easy to argue that their consistency has been better for the genre overall than a shakier career with divisive experiments. After all, when you've basically perfected the formula, why tinker too much with it?

And aside from adding breadth to their depth here, Immolation are still playing their style of death metal, recognisable to a time travelling fan of Dawn of Possession from 1991. Which is great! The dingy but discernable growls, the technical and twisted guitar riffs, the battering drums, this is death metal at its most primal and intelligent simultaneously, breaking your neck whilst overloading your mind. There aren't a lot of differences between tracks notable on initial listens, but with a little familiarity you can see how the downpour of guitar lava of The Age of No Light, interplaying with almost tribal drumming, differs from the scissoring technicality of Shed the Light. Some tracks take a heavier route, yet even, say, the crushing Noose of Thorns or the groovier Overtures of the Wicked allow ominous moments for you to catch your breath.

Sure, all of the songs here are both ominous and technical, yet so well do Immolation construct their dark anthems that although not quite distinct there's enough variety and general songcraft skill that even a fifty-minute-plus album like this flows very well indeed. That will be the biggest barrier to general acclaim, the length and density of Acts of God - it's high-quality meat, but a feast of this size isn't for everyone? Still, not to be too veggie-phobic in the metaphor, death metal is a genre that revels in gorging on the flesh, and Immolation have always delivered a lean and delicious slice. Think of Acts of God as an all-you-can-eat buffet of the finest cuts, then, and dig in.

Killing Songs :
The Age of No Light, Overtures of the Wicked, Incineration Procession, When Halos Burn
Goat quoted 88 / 100
Other albums by Immolation that we have reviewed:
Immolation - Atonement reviewed by Goat and quoted 85 / 100
Immolation - Kingdom of Conspiracy reviewed by Jared and quoted 82 / 100
Immolation - Majesty and Decay reviewed by Charles and quoted 90 / 100
Immolation - Close To A World Below reviewed by Dylan and quoted 89 / 100
Immolation - Shadows in the Light reviewed by Alex and quoted 93 / 100
To see all 8 reviews click here
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