Customer Reviews

Close to a World Below

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Immolation creates a paradox with their music. On the one hand, the music is superficially your typical brutal, oldschoolish, New York death metal, with typical anti-Christian lyrics. But wait. The attentive listener will find that upon examining this work further, layers of depth reveal themselves like scales falling from the sinner's eyes. A similar phenomenon happens w/fellow NY death metallers Suffocation. But these guys don't exactly sound like Suffocation, or any other band actually. Under the brutality and technicality lurks hellish melody and *gasp* emotion. The ignorant who say that the lyrics are cliche and simply composed for "shock" value aren't paying attention. Unlike the mindless anti-Christian aggression of bands like Deicide, Immolation's lyrics are highly personal, metaphorical, and emotional. (In interviews, Immolation refers to themselves as "unholy" rather than "evil.") Rather than expressing their hatred for all things holy by talking about burning down the Vatican or some such nonsense, these compositions explore psyches damaged by spiritual poisoning. The music manages to reflect these ideas well. The thunderous drumming, the shredding guitars, the grinding bass, and the grunt-barks (surprisingly understandable at times, even w/o a lyric sheet), all convey the anger and outrage at being deceived. And yet, without female or clean vocals, classical instruments, acoustic passages, or any letup in the brutality whatsoever, melody manages to thrive through odd time signatures and tempo changes, and strange instrument juxtapositioning that creates dissonance and harmony at the same time. It's hard to explain exactly what the music does, and I don't think words can adequately explain it, anyway. Again, it simply amazes me how they can seem both furious and intimidating as well as vulnerable and anguished at the same time, such as in "Father, You're Not a Father" ("Our father who aren't in heaven/Inside of me, my soul is lost/My manhood, so miniscule, was stolen/The Rosary has gripped tight around my neck") and "Lost Passion" ("My devotion to you was complete/I've carried the weight of your cross/The burden of life presses me/These nails are in too deep/My passion suffocates me/Jesus you suffocate me"). One last note to those who think these lyrics are merely penned for offensiveness: read some interviews with these guys. You'll see that these lyrics are from the heart, since they were once Christian and felt that it was damaging to them. And, having once been Christian myself and feeling pretty much the same way about the damaging thing, I can say that this band effectivly conveys, musically and lyrically, the kind of pain caused by Christianity.

As a music fan that varies his listening from time to time, I often search for new types of music. I just happened upon this selection and found it to be anything that you could want in the way of a brutally loud album. As I put this CD in to listen, I heard those soon-to-be-famous opening words that said "didn't you say that Jesus was coming?", and thought to myself: "how much better could this get?" But I was soon silenced by the brutal attack of the drums on Higher Coward, where it seems to sound more like machine-gun fire, rather than drumming. The rest of the album is so awesome, it's scary. The guitars sound perfect to be complimenting the vocals and the drum and bass fit together like a puzzle, completing one of the heaviest and all-out brutal albums of all time. I gave this album five stars because the production couldn't be better (it has a heavy bass sound without sacrificing high-end eq), the vocals are understandable (and stand out from the instruments), the guitar-work is heavy (a distorted high-gain sound), and the rhythm section is quite astonishing (great use of the bass by Ross Dolan (their singer also) and Alex Hernandez has got to be the only one of his kind when it comes to who can drum the loudest/fastest). In other words, i give this album a high rating, not because I liked it, but because it is surprising to see such creativity bled into music. You can actually tell that these people tried to make a noticable album, not just another "here's what I can do". Get this album if you're interested in this type of music.

I luv these guys. They're so cool. I know alot of Christians that are like the ones these guys despise so much, but not all of em are like that. Not all of us are hypocrits but all of us suffer for what a few jerks did. If you like technical deathmetal in the vein of Hate Eternal + Cryptopsy+Vader, then this is for u.

At a loss for words here,it blew me away. BEST RELEASE OF 2000 easily with Decapitated's Winds Of Creation slightly behind. Listener can listen start to finish with no complaints THIS IS A MUST BUY FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS A CREATIVE AND UNIQUE DEATH METAL CD

The future of Metal- dissonant, razor sharp, bludgeoningly heavy and just flat out strange. Ross Dolan does a fine job as bassist/throat- leveling within 30 miles all things Christian with metaphorical lyrics dealing with the struggle that is being human. The Guitarists are also immensely talented. Guitar lines are much in the vein of Morbid Angel or Cryptopsy or even Incantation where in spite of cryptic time changes and discordant harmonies something genuinely beautiful and disturbing is presented. As for the Percussion department- Alex Hernandez is NOT a typical double kick robot. If anything, his drumming expands the song structures rather than be limited to serving them. Worthy of any Death head's attention.

Since the tragic breakup of the great Suffocation, Immolation has taken the throne of greatest band alive. These guys do technical, straightup, no nonsense death metal, and nobody does it better. Ross Dolan is an amazing death vocalist, and Alex Hernandez is an excellent drummer. This album, the latest from the boys, does not disappoint. It's not as sludgy as "Failures for Gods", nor as brilliant as "Here in After", but it's without a doubt a solid effort from the masters. "Father, You're Not a Father" has quickly become one of my favorite songs. Godly drumming, and killer vocals from Ross. If you are a fan of death metal, this is a must-buy. Deicide are not EVEN the masters of blasphemous death (don't mean to knock em, cuz they rule!), Immolation reigns supreme. Buy this, and raise some hell!!

Immolation is a death metal band that broke out into the death metal scene in the early 90's, yet they have not been as noticed as their contemporaries Suffocation and Cannibal Corpse. This band would always stay loyal in the death metal underground regardless of any musical fads that would pop up. My personal favorite by this band, "Close To A World Below", is a perfect example of how Immolation does their thing. Ross Dolan is one stand out vocalist whose vocals are in a lower pitch, but you can actually decipher his lyrics! Another stand out is Alex Hernandez's excellent drumming, especially when performed in tracks such as "Put My Hand In The Fire" and "Furthest From The Truth". Production values are excellent, and some of the best that Immolation has had here. Riffs and solos are classic. This is the soundtrack to armageddon. Love death metal? Don't miss out on this masterpiece.

Many distributors still carry all of Immolations albums except this one. Not quite sure why, but if you see it, buy it on the spot. Worth every penny. Classic evil death / black metal for fans of Morbid Angel, Vital Remains, Incantation, etc. This one album just stands out to me for some reason, nothing really special about it, but it flows well, and doesn't do anything wrong for fans. Just a complete album in general, start to finish.

Great to clean your house / apartment to.

I've been listining to immolation since "dawn of possesion" and yet these talent musicians can't seem to dissapoint me, at all. In my eyes there's not a better deathmetal band then immolation...I suggest for any one that wants to listing to extreme music at its best ? Get your self a copy of immolation's "close to a world below" dont think twice, just do it! Highly recommended.

Immolation bring a sense of majesty to the brutal table with Close to a World Below. The guitars are intense yet have an interesting melodic sensibility that serves to make the music much more powerful than the average death metal band. In fact some of this approaches Black Metal in its emotional intensity and sense of dark grandeur. The vocals are powerful, and intelligable and that of course brings me to the albums weakness: the lyrics. I found myself getting tired of the anti-christian rhetoric as mentioned by many of the other reviewers. Although there are exceptions, the song Lost Passion is anti-christian true, but its interesting because the lyrics are from the point of view of someone who has lost their christian faith. In general though the unwavering anti-christian tone of the rest of the album gets a bit old after a while. But thats a minor complaint really. Lyrically monochrome though Immolations' Close to a World Below may be, musically it's an excellent album that offers more than just sheer brutality and power. Ultimately the great playing rewards repeated listenings and it's well worth having for any Death Metal freak.