Artist: Immolation
Label: Metal Blade Records
Release Date: 1996
Rating: 5 Skulls
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Title: Here in After Artist: Immolation Label: Metal Blade Records Release Date: 1996
Rating: 5 Skulls |
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Reviewed by Kefka X:
The two places to be in the early 90’s if you were in a death metal band were Florida and New York. Florida introduced us to Deicide, Morbid Angel, Death, and hundreds of other death metal bands that made the brutality a force to be reckoned with. Traveling six states north would be the New York scene of death, which included Suffocation, Cannibal Corpse, and one of the more underrated, but golden acts of death metal, Immolation. It’s hard to believe that this band has been around for over a decade with only five albums, three of which were released in the span of almost four years. This leaves us with the first two albums, Dawn of Possession and Here in After, which was released five years after Dawn of Possession raised the bar for death metal standards in 1991. For now I’ll review the latter out of preference. Here in After remains my favorite Immolation album to this very day, and most metalheads I talk to seem to agree with me after a few repeated listens (and a lobotomy…just kidding).Immolation’s style of death metal is so difficult to describe because there’s really nothing to compare it to. Where Suffocation is one side of the spectrum with their sound and style of death metal, Immolation is the other. I suppose the best analogy/comparison would be where Suffocation is brutal, Immolation is plain fucking evil. There are few bands I can listen to and get chills from, but the veteran act from New York is always there to haunt me with the demons of music. If you’re a fan of Immolation and you’ve yet to hear this album, there’s nothing really new about Here in After that you haven’t heard from the last three albums. The differences are few yet distinguishable and hold this high above their other works.
For one, this is the last studio effort with original drummer Craig Smilowski, who in my opinion is one of the fastest death metal drummers alive to this very day. His double bass speaks for itself, and the intensity of his speed gives this album the extra oomph of evil that pushes it beyond the last three Immolation albums. Second, Here in After is the culmination of a five-year wait since their Roadrunner records classic, Dawn of Possession, which is probably one of the longest studio breaks a metal band has done in history. Their musicianship and songwriting ability shows; each song is near-perfect in delivery. Rob Vigna’s signature guitar style still remains the driving force behind Immolation, and of all five albums, it feels the strongest and holds the most memorable riffs on this specific album. And while each song is amazing and blistering in its unholy glory, the standout track of the album is its final close, “Christ’s Cage.” Not only is it one of the most agonizing songs ever written (Rob’s opening guitar wail is as painful as it gets), but this has to be the most perfect (and greatest) way to end a CD, ever. To this day it remains one of my favorite metal songs. It’s just so damned evil.
If you can find a copy of this anywhere, do yourself a favor and pick it up. It’s a bit more difficult to find than most of Immolation’s catalog, but it’s a worthwhile experience. One more recommendation: if you ever get a chance and find it, listen to Immolation’s cover of “Satan’s Fall” off of the Merciful Fate tribute album. It’s so ridiculously evil that it nearly puts the original to shame.
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