ALBUM REVIEW: Acts Of God – Immolation

New York’s IMMOLATION are masters of death metal that is complex but ultimately gets straight to the point and goes straight for the jugular. Since their debut album Dawn Of Possession (released back in 1991), they have carved out a formidable reputation as one of the genre’s most revered bands, and their recorded output is nothing less than immense when it comes to punishing death metal brilliance.

The band have raised the stakes time and time again with every album that they put out, with their last album, 2017’s Atomement, showing them at the peak of their powers with a faultless lesson in pure death metal. Five years have passed since that album but now IMMOLATION have come storming back with their new album Acts Of God. It sees the New York band building on what they achieved with Atonement but with even more vigour and a focused surge of venom on this huge sounding record.

After a suitably menacing opening instrumental entitled Abandoned, complete with macabre bells ringing out as the intro reaches its crescendo, Acts Of God explodes into life (or death as is more apt) with the brutal An Act Of God. From then on, it’s a pure lesson in death metal until the last notes of closing number Apostle ring out. Songs like the pummelling The Age Of No Light, the powerful Immoral Stain, Broken Prey (complete with some killer discordant guitar riffs) and the swarming Derelict Of Spirit are all album highlights and demonstrate perfectly the depth and passion of IMMOLATION‘s music, something that has always been evident but is delivered in spades here.

The musicianship that IMMOLATION display on Acts Of God is particularly impressive and the band sound as though they are having the time of their lives playing these songs as the solid grooves and searing guitar riffs and solos reign supreme with vocalist/bassist Ross Dolan‘s formidable growl on form throughout to create that classic IMMOLATION sound. Alongside tracks that deal with the state the world is in today, the all out attacks on the hypocrisy of organised religion which are subjects that IMMOLATION feel passionate about are also here in force, and they take no prisoners when it comes to unleashing their hatred on this subject especially on songs like When Halos Burn and Apostle.

As the album concludes with that last track, and is ably proceeded by a stirring instrumental passage which leads into it called And The Flames Wept, it allows Acts Of God to end on a sheer high and you will marvel at the full dizzying effect of what has preceded it. Acts Of God is prime IMMOLATION and in turn, prime death metal, and it has to be said that the band are on top form on this album, turning in a collection of songs that will definitely stand the test of time when it comes to pure death metal brutality. An immense and captivating return for one of the genre’s best bands.

Rating: 9/10

Acts Of God is set for release on February 18th via Nuclear Blast Records.

Like IMMOLATION on Facebook.