Immolation – Descent
Release Date: 10th April 2026
Label: Nuclear Blast
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, Blackened Death Metal, Old School Death Metal.
FFO: Cryptopsy, Suffocation, Incantation, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel.
Review By: Rick Farley
What really is there left to say about one of death metal’s most important bands? New York’s Immolation is 37 years into their storied career and are considered one of the most influential American death metal bands to ever grace us with their mix of dissonant brutality, meets technical precision, meets total fucking darkness. A sound to this day that is frequently attempted but never fully emulated. From day one of their groundbreaking 1991 debut Dawn of Possession to their now 12th full length album Descent, being released April 10th, 2026, Immolation have stayed true to being genre innovators while maintaining the quality of their discography matched only by a small group of their peers. Their sound is unmistakable, ominous dissonance, angular complexity and crushing hooks blended into a foreboding darkness that’s as nightmarish as it’s brutal.
Descent basically picks up where 2022 Acts of God left of, but in a slightly compact, tighter package. The runtime is trimmed down a bit, and the album feels crisper with a more direct bludgeoning. It’s no less dissonant or layered, but it seems more deliberate in the way the songs unfurl their hostility. The shifting time signatures, dark complexity, and suffocating atmosphere remain. Brooding, catchy riffs unleashed within their dissonant weblike like weaving, while frenetic melodies and fiery leads dance creepily underneath and overtop. Anchored by a destructive rhythm section that consists of thick bass and technically precise drums that are equivalent to a warship unleashing it artillery all at once. The gutturals are low with a roaring command that feels like they could summon evil at any moment. Tracks like opener These vengeful Winds creep and twist with relentless malice of wicked guitar harmonies and tight crunch, while God’s Last Breathe builds its oppressive tension slower with doomy structures and sickening airy riffs that lead to an overwhelming hooky climax. The savagely blackened Bend Towards the Dark is faster paced with anxiety induced atmospheric elements during the final minute that are beyond terrifying. Pummelling, weighty and creepy is not a mixture that bodes well for anyone that doesn’t like the feeling of being engulfed with world ending darkness. Descent Is 42 minutes of jarring, extreme, harsh soundscapes that will compel you to revisit its abhorrence over and over again.
Production wise Descent is enormous sounding, a truly colossal atmosphere created by a pulsing, breathing entity in depraved music form. Sharp-edged guitars, thick drum sound, and ungodly heaviness that’s hardly describable as just using the word heavy. This record envelops you from the first track to the last, squeezing and suffocating every shortened breath you have remaining. Mixed and mastered by long-time collaborator Zack Ohren, Descent is powerfully raw with a modern, fully fleshed out sound that cleanly differentiates each instrument even during its most chaotic passages. As masterfully as the album is written and executed, the production is another element that is done exceptionally well.
As far as I’m concerned Immolation once again stylistically proves they’re in a class of their own, refining their sound continuously to where they remain undeniably recognizable but also enough so that every album isn’t a direct rehash of anything released prior. In a catalogue of pure death metal brilliance, it would be difficult, for me at least to rank this in order of favourite to least favourite, but to anyone that’s a longtime fan or even anyone that’s new to the band, this is a ferocious record that will surely be talked about all year as one of the genres prime releases. There’s a reason bands like this last this long, get this in your ears immediately.
(4.5 / 5)
