Review by Xephyr for Immolation - Acts of God (2022)

The Old, Deathly Guard

Death Metal and I have an interesting history in that there’s hardly any history at all. I was painfully unaware of more traditional Death Metal as I started with Opeth and proceeded to trek down the more melodic, progressive, and technical route with bands like Insomnium, In Flames, and Falljuah. It would take me a few years of slowly being exposed to the heavier, filthier, and more rhythm focused Death Metal acts before finally starting to check out some of the classics like Death, Cryptopsy, and Bolt Thrower. So, when I saw that Acts of God had released, I made the horrific realization that I haven’t listened to a single Immolation album released before 2017. Whoops. Normally I’d do my due diligence and go back to do some research, but since Immolation is such a massive name in the genre, I figured it’d be neat to have a unique perspective going into Acts of God.

The lengthy track listing made me a bit wary at the start as I’ve struggled with Death Metal albums that keep the song length relatively short in the past, but Immolation wastes no time in providing competent variety and pacing to keep each 4-minute track fresh. Acts of God feels uncompromising towards the Death Metal genre in the best of ways, as it heavily adheres to the tried-and-true formula while being written and performed so well that it still manages to distinguish itself from other albums that utilize outside elements or gimmicks. It’s dense, chunky, and dissonant as well as melodic at all the right times, but not overwhelming as the mixing and production allows much more breathing room between the chugging guitar and the hammering drums than what’s usual with modern Death Metal production trends. Acts of God has a ton of depth that took me a few listens to pick out as the guitar, drums, and vocal interactions can be really creative and not immediately apparent. I’m especially critical of the more brutal side of Death Metal vocals and while I’ll say that Immolation does suffer from not having the variety in vocals I prefer, I ultimately warmed up to Dolan’s performance towards the end. He has strangely amazing annunciation for how deeply guttural he is, which only adds to the power of his performance that weaves in and out of nicely complementing the riffs to being utterly chaotic. I’ve always struggled with the more brutal and dissonant styles of Death Metal and those portions still trip me up on this album, but the songs are so short and some of the transitions are so clean that it didn’t end up bothering me too much in the end.

Where Acts of God shines is the guitarwork and its interplay with the drumming throughout the entire album, asserting itself as one of the best collections of traditionalist Death Metal riffs through both their compelling simplicity and hidden complexity. In an era where Death Metal acts have evolved to incorporate slews of elements to make their riffing heavier and more gruesome, there’s something about the basics being performed incredibly well that seriously grew on me. Couple that with a drum kick sound that actually adds to the thick, dark atmosphere instead of cutting right through and it creates a ruthless base for Immolation’s guitarists to dig into a variety of riff structures throughout the album. “Noose of Thorns” is the best example of Immolation’s riffing style and how they transition between them, starting off with a more melodic riff that eventually builds and morphs into a chaotic flurry of dueling guitar leads and drum fills before breaking down into a chugging variation on the opening riff before reprising the main theme at the end. All of the other, shorter tunes follow a similar formula albeit with more abrupt transitions that hardly ever miss their mark.

Despite there being a ton of subtle variety within Acts of God, there isn’t enough blatant variety for someone like me towards the middle of the album. While the album starts on a great run of four songs, the section between “Shed the Light” and “Broken Spirit” feels lackluster compared to the beginning and end, despite “Incineration Procession” having one of the stronger opening riffs. “Derelict of Spirit” is an absolutely brutal start to the back portion of the album that eventually closes on their most intricate track “Apostle”, ending the album on an extremely high note. I’m aware of my lack of patience when it comes to traditional Death Metal albums, so it’s not a surprise that Acts of God doesn’t keep me interested for its entire runtime, but it’s a refreshing experience to continue to get quality, no gimmicks Death Metal from one of the genre's classic bands. It may lack the spice that I look for in my modern Death Metal, but this style will always sound timeless when done correctly.