IMMOLATION — Failures for Gods (review)

IMMOLATION — Failures for Gods album cover Album · 1999 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Failures for Gods" is the 3rd full-length studio album by US, New York based death metal act Immolation. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in June 1999 and it´s the second release of a three-album deal on the label. Since "Here in After (1996)" there´s been one lineup change as drummer Craig Smilowski has been replaced by Alex Hernandez who came from a stint with Fallen Christ. The remaining part of the lineup are Ross Dolan (Bass, Vocals), Thomas Wilkinson (Lead & Rhythm Guitars), and Robert Vigna (Lead & Rhythm Guitars).

Stylistically the material on the 8 track, 40:19 minutes long album continue the brutal, blasphemous/anti-Christian themed, and rather twisted death metal sound of it´s predecessor. Already this early on Immolation had a distinct and consistent sound, but still with a creative songwriting approach. So while the overall sound of "Failures for Gods" doesn´t differ much from the sound of "Here in After (1996)", Immolation have made just enough little changes to their style, to continue intriguing the listener.

Immolation generally don´t produce accessible hook laden music, and you have to be in the mood for a murky, brutal, and sometimes dissonant type of death metal, to be able to appreciate what they are doing. Many spins later it will be obvious to most though how unique Immolation really are, and given enough spins the tracks also begin to stand out amidst the murky brutality. Some of the highlights of the album include "No Jeses, No Beast" and "The Devil I know" (the closing minutes are epic), but "Failures for Gods" is a consistent high quality release.

"Failures for Gods" features a sound production, which takes a bit getting used to. Upon initial listens I was personally appalled by the unnatural sounding triggered bass drum sound, which to my ears made very little sense compared to the otherwise dark and murky soundscape. After having listened to the album more over the years, it´s become apparent to me that the bass drum sound was chosen to make the hits stand out in the gloomy soundscape, and while they still sound unnatual to my ears, I´ve learned to embrace them.

The musicianship is on a high level, and although the drums are triggered and far som organic sounding, Hernandez playing makes the music feel organic anyway. The guitar riffs are quite create although still rooted in tremolo picked old school death metal riffing, and lead vocalist/bassist Ross Dolan has a brutal and effective growling vocal style. So "Failures for Gods" is upon conclusion another high quality death metal release by Immolation and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.
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