Review
Robert Vigna’s characteristically crooked, discordant guitar work strikes with immediate friction on the opening tracks of Descent. Decades into their career, the New York death metal institution sidesteps reinvention to deliver a tightened, "more direct, universally aggressive record" than its expansive predecessor. The consensus highlights a band operating with a lean efficiency; while critics note this twelfth outing "adds little, if anything, to the sound now synonymous with Immolation", the execution remains devastatingly precise.
Sonically, the album thrives on a dense, suffocating pressure, balancing frantic blasts with ominous slowdowns that feel darkly cinematic. Track "These Vengeful Winds" sets a hostile tone, marrying complex, jagged rhythms with a "savage helping of melancholy". Ross Dolan’s cavernous vocals anchor the chaos, carrying the weight of a band that still commands authority. Rather than tracing new horizons, Descent functions as an uncompromising showcase of why the veteran group continues to reign, wielding a formidable and highly "efficient form of violence".
