New York deathdealers Immolation have returned. Brandishing their dissonant attack on all things Catholicism with their latest & 12th album “Descent”.
With a legacy spanning 37 years, Immolation have been one of the most consistent bands in the underground death metal genre. With their era-defining debut album “Dawn of Possession” & the titan that is “Failures for Gods”. To the band’s second wind in 2010’s “Majesty and Decay” & 2013’s “Kingdom of Conspiracy”. Immolation’s discography has not faltered since the beginning.
The band’s last two albums, “Atonement” & “Acts of God”, saw a resurgence in the band’s popularity & some say the most brutal, aggressive & darkest material from the band yet.
“Descent”, the band’s latest album, continues that assault with the opening track “These Vengeful Winds”. It’s the first few seconds of clean, haunting guitar that set the stage. As the band draws you in, they unleash all hell’s fury, the perfect way they do. Their angler, precise attack of breakneck blast beats, complex but somehow gorgeously brutal guitar riffs & ungodly, guttural vocal melodies tell you Immolation are back again & this opening track is just the start of the spiral down into the darkest parts of the world.
Continuing the tirade, “The Ephemeral Curse”, the next track grabs you quickly. Two enticing guitar riffs from the masters Robert Vigna & Alex Bouks: the opening one is simple & catchy, and the next is eerie & adds a chilling feel to the first half of the track. Then a great, hooky yet dissonant riff kicks in & really drives the track. Immolation has its own style, using elements that not many bands can pull off, but somehow they make it effortless. I’ve been a fan of the band for a long time & they are still able to grab me with any harmonic, hypnotic riff & chilling moment they use to craft their altogether special & unique sound. This track is a perfect showcase of that.
Like a whirlwind, the track “Adversary” takes you and doesn’t let go for its whole over three minutes. One of the singles for the album is a great highlight of the elements that make it very special. Its first half is a nonstop, fast-paced attack. Blasting from drummer Steve Shalaty on this track really showcases what a vital part of the band’s overall sound he is.
A very much overlooked drummer for his technical abilities, but also great choices when it comes to fills, tempo choices & uses of cymbal work to add different layers to a track. The chorus on this track is huge & grabs your ear straight away. Using those harsh harmonics as a focal point of the riff gives it great character & really allows the moment to feel organic and as if it was meant to be.
Later in the album, “Host” shows just how greatly the band can blend the more expansive & melodically ethereal sound with their bludgeoning brutality. The first half of the track is all about building atmosphere. Primal drums echo as these eerie tremolo-style riffs build to a great climax, before the whole band & vocalist/bassist Ross Dolan deliver what I feel is his best performance on the album. The tracks’ more “mellow” feel really gives Dolan room to play with dynamics in his vocals.
His clear, precise takes allow you to really feel & hear the lyrics. This is in aid of showing just how great the album’s mix is. Mixed and mastered by longtime collaborator Zack Ohren, this album gives it a slightly more organic & raw feel than the last two albums. It gives us a little dip into the band’s early era, but with the clarity of modern production, without letting it go too far into the dirty, raw sound. It has a great balance & power throughout its overall sound.
The album’s closing title track, “Descent”, is a nearly six-minute epic. Opening with a blistering, thrashy section before bringing in what might be the biggest riff on the album, as Dolan perfectly sings in sync with it, creating a goosebump moment that works so well & really sets the tone of the track. This track is like a plough through you like a tank; it doesn’t let up for one moment. It has its slightly slower moments, but it doesn’t allow you to breathe, just furious moment to moment. This track is the perfect closer & really encapsulates the album’s overall feel & presence.
With a band with a now 37-year career, you would expect there to be a few dents in their musical output. But for Immolation, it’s the total opposite. With every release, the band’s armour gets thicker, more robust & even more savage in its use. Now that might be an arty way of saying this band has never put out a band album, which is true. I am so happy to say “Decent” isn’t just another fantastic album in an already flawless legacy, but it’s one of their brightest & strongest in some time. It’s rare to go this far and still create something on par, but it’s even more rare to create an album that stands with some of the fans’ favourites.
“Decent” is the band’s most savage, melodic & powerful album in the last decade. A perfect album that will not only turn heads in 2026 but will also, over the next 10+ years, be seen as one of the band’s strongest & most prolific.
Review: Joseph Mitchell
Descent is out via Nuclear Blast on 10th April 2026
| 01 These Vengeful Winds | ||
| 02 The Ephemeral Curse | ||
| 03 God’s Last Breath | ||
| 04 Adversary | ||
| 05 Attrition | ||
| 06 Bend Towards The Dark | ||
| 07 Host | ||
| 08 False Ascent | ||
| 09 Banished | ||
| 10 Descent |
Following the European tour, IMMOLATION will join headliners and label mates BEHEMOTH on their ‘The Godless IV 2026 Tour‘ with DEICIDE and ROTTING CHRIST.
04.14.2026 US San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
04.15.2026 US San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom
04.17.2026 US Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
04.18.2026 CAN Vancouver, BC @ The Vogue Theatre
04.19.2026 US Seattle, WA @ Showbox Sodo
04.21.2026 US Salt Lake City, UT @ Union Event Center
04.22.2026 US Denver, CO @ The Fillmore
04.24.2026 US Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
04.25.2026 US Chicago, IL @ The Vic Theatre
04.26.2026 US St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
04.28.2026 US Norfolk, VA @ The Norva
04.30.2026 US Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore ~
05.01.2026 US Worcester, MA @ The Palladium ^
05.02.2026 US New York City, NY @ The Palladium
05.04.2026 US Buffalo, NY @ Buffalo Riverworks
05.05.2026 US McKees Rock, PA @ The Roxian
05.09.2026 US Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore
05.11.2026. CAN Toronto, ON @ History
05.12.2026 CAN Montreal, QC @ L’Olympia
05.14.2026 US Columbus, OH @ Sonic Temple*
05.15.2026 US Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl
05.16.2026 US Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
05.18.2026 US Dallas, TX @ The Bomb Factory
05.20.2026 US Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
05.21.2026 US Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium
~ – No ROTTING CHRIST
^ – No DEICIDE
* – Festival date
FESTIVAL DATES
07.27-31.2026. RO. Brasov @ Rockstadt Extreme Fest
08.05-08.2026 CZ. Josefov @ Brutal Assault
