Immolation - Here in After

Immolation is often considered to be a very proficient death metal band, on par with Incantation and Suffocation, but, apart from their one good album Unholy Cult, that is really not true at all. And if Unholy Cult is the band's zenith, Here is After is pretty close to their nadir, alongside the horrendous debut Dawn of Possession - and I'm intentionally excluding modern nu-metal material, out of pity (a sentiment Immolation ironically mocks). Immolation need to listen to more Phantom to understand just what dissonance is, and how it is used to create atmosphere, not detract from it with random masturbation noises. Barring that, it is impossible to rank this band along Incantation and Suffocation, not to mention Demilich, in the pantheon of death metal. Maybe they have their place at a much lower tier, next to Warkvlt. Maybe. The seventh track of the album, 'Under the Supreme', is exactly how one should describe Immolation in regards to their place in the death metal hierarchy.

While Here and After, along with the two following Immolation albums Failure for Gods and Close to a World Below, is stylistically very similar to Unholy Cult, or to what other dissonance-reliant death metal bands such as Vermin are known for producing, on a conceptual and structural level, Here in After is simply worlds below. This album is far too random, and the riffs too banal and bland, for it to merit repeated listens. It's an interesting album, and Immolation are to be commended for their ambition, but they simply do not have the skills to box in the same category as Incantation or Vermin. As an example, far from invoking visions of the underworld, the semi-random, possibly computer generated riffs on the title track will at best only remind you of an airport jingle heard over the incoherent sounds of a nearby carnival parade.

Avoid this band, and stick to the superior death metal of Incantation, Suffocation, Phantom and Demilich. If you really must pick an Immolation album, Unholy Cult is a better bet.

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