Style: Death metal
Primary Emotions/Themes: Death metal in the way that only Immolation can create
Thoughts: "Didn't you say Jesus was coming?"
Is there a death metal band better than Immolation? I personally can't think of a better one. The unique way that they work in dissonance with their riffs and the pure disgust that the music evokes is second to none.
Close to a World Below is on my short list of best death metal albums ever recorded. It shows Immolation at their very best. The music is heavy, it is unpredictable, it's brutal as all fuck, and its completely uncompromising.
The main appeal of this album (and Immolation in general) is the riffs. These guys have a way of writing riffs that seem normal at first, but then have something just a little off. Maybe its a note played just slightly out of sequence, maybe its a chord that feels slightly off, maybe it's a drum beat that feels slightly syncopated from the rest of the band.
At first it may sound like the band is sloppy, or undisciplined... but the more I listen the more I realize that this is entirely intentional and that every single note is exactly as the band intended it. It makes my brain hurt, but the more I listen the more I appreciate what is going on.... and having listened to this album for several dedicates at this point these very "flaws" are what makes this album an elite death metal record.
This is the best that Immolation would ever get, nothing in their discography can touch this album. In fact few other death metal albums can come close to the pure chaotic violence that Close to a World Below brings. If I only had one death metal album to listen to ever again, this would certainly be in contention for that title.
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