Entry 051 - Immolation - Majesty and Decay

 

Immolation is one of those bands that I wasn't quite ready for the first time I heard it. I listened to Failures for Gods when I was a young teen and just passed it off as garbage, and I ignored the band for over a decade.

I decided to give the band another shot with Majesty and Decay, based solely on one reviewer who said the album has a great sense of atmosphere. I enjoy a strong atmosphere in albums so I checked it out. When I finally put the record on, I realized I had made a terrible mistake.

My mistake was ignoring an absolutely outstanding band. Majesty and Decay takes death metal and makes it patient and calculated. That's not to say that everything here is mid paced and plodding, on the contrary there are a ton of blast beats and intricate riffs. What makes this album different is that everything here is done with intent, every single note is there with a reason, every riff patiently waits until the exact right moment to strike.

This album acted as my gateway into the world of Immolation. It remains one of the better albums in their long discography, and shows exactly how mature death metal should be executed.