If ever there was a name synonymous with Death Metal it is that of Immolation, a band who through the past twenty years have stuck religiously to their convictions regardless of commercial popularity. Never ones to rely upon the shock value of Satanism or gut wrenching gore, unlike some I could mention, but rather having faith in the quality of their songs and musicianship.

Victims of their own success to some extent, as twenty years on from the release of their debut album “Dawn Of Possession” there are those who compare and ruthlessly scrutinise each new Immolation album to the nth degree verses their debut; and with the aid of rose tinted spectacles every album comes up short. For those who can’t look beyond any release later than circa 1992 the world will always be forever “Alters Of Madness”, “Left Hand Path” and “Slowly We Rot”, but for the rest of us there are new releases to enjoy.

“Majesty And Decay” is the latest release from the New Jersey quartet deserving of our attention, and the first thing of discernable difference from previous Immolation releases is the production. Given the precision with which the band writes its material it always surprised me the poor production that they have employed, but not so here. The drums have a clarity and crispness that was so missing on “Harnessing Ruin” and “Shadows In The Light” and Ross Dolan finally has a bass sound high enough in the mix to complete the wailing guitars that we have come to expect from Vigna and Taylor.

Any Immolation album is characterised by Vigna’s soloing and thankfully “Majesty And Decay” is no different. His ability to write guitar harmonies of such mind bending complexity seems to know no bounds, no more so than on the albums closing track “The Comfort Of Cowards”. Yet Immolation is more than just about one man however as Nolan puts in his shift too with a vocal performance; full of his trademark gruffness but allied with menace and foreboding. While it is difficult to pick any one stand out track “A Glorious Epoch” and “The Rapture of the Gods” just go to show the band has lost none of its potency over the past twenty years. 

If there is a criticism of the record it is that while excellently executed and wholly enjoyable that it is, at no point do you feel the band have pushed themselves out of their creative comfort zone. The collection of songs is to the exacting standards we’ve come to expect but for anyone who has the bands complete back catalogue will find that the album walks a familiar path. Maybe after twenty years are we expecting a little to much for an old dog to learn new tricks, and it just goes to show how spoilt we have become when an album of the quality of “Majesty And Decay” can have wholes picked in it? Yes, not the most original thing you’ll hear this year but it will certainly be one of the most brutal.