IMMOLATION — Dawn of Possession (review)

IMMOLATION — Dawn of Possession album cover Album · 1991 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
Dawn Of Possession is the debut full-length studio album by American ( New York) death metal act Immolation. The album was released in July 1991 by Roadrunner Records. Immolation were along with fellow death metal acts Suffocation and Incantation, the leaders of the New York death metal scene in the early nineties. Dawn Of Possession is widely considered a classic album from that era. Immolation started out under the Rigor Mortis monicker in 1986 but changed their name to Immolation in 1988. So at the time when they recorded Dawn Of Possession, they had already existed for five years and released a string of demos under both monickers. Unlike most American death metal acts in the early nineties Immolation didn´t record Dawn Of Possession at the legendary Morrisound Studio in Tampa, Florida but opted to take the journey to the Musiclab Studios, in Berlin, Germany and work with producer Harris Johns.

The music on the album is technically well played US death metal. The lyrical themes are blasphemous and anti-religious and they are delivered with the right caustic and aggresssive attitude. One of the things that Immolation really understand is the importance of rythmic delivery of growling vocals. It´s a feature that most death metal acts neglect to focus on and therefore monotone death metal vocals mare far too many releases in the genre. Bassist/ vocalist Ross Dolan is one of those rare exceptions that makes it all worth it. Immolation would on later releases develop a very distinct twisted/ angular riffing style but on Dawn Of Possession the influence from especially early Morbid Angel is very audible and there are only few traces of the more unique style that the band would develop through the years.

The songs are well composed, powerful, brutal and very well played. It´s audible that the band had already existed for five years at this point, because their technical skills are on a high level considering that Dawn Of Possession is a debut album. The album is very consistent but as on most albums of the more brutal kind, it´s not easy to tell the songs apart until you´ve given the album many spins. It´s quite a rewarding journey though and I find Dawn Of Possession highly recommendable to fans of the more technical variation of old school US death metal. a 4 star rating is deserved.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Heretic Melodic Death Metal
SUNCINDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like A Life Vest As The Night Wept Mathcore
FRONTIERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Future Ghost - Wolves (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Future Ghost - Nemesis Game (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Harrowed TwentyTenVideo
HARROWED
Bosh66· 3 days ago
Sunmancer - Realms of Dilemma (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
Sunmancer - Lower Cavalier (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed