IMMOLATION: (2005) Harnessing Ruin

2005 was a very good year for death metal fans, because numerous super heavy bands released albums. And don't despair if you're a Deicide, Cannibal Corpse or Dying Fetus fan, because Immolation also released a new disc last March. "Harnessing Ruin," the band's seventh studio effort, is just as brutal, relentless, and technical as almost any other album released in 2005. This record's production is the only drawback--the guitar solos are bumped to the middle, and the drums are pushed to the back of the wall of sound, thus making them sometimes hard to hear. And since Ross's vocals are growled instead of bellowed, he usually takes a back seat to the music, because the riffs and rhythms are more monstrous and ferocious than he is. But "Harnessing Ruin" is far from being ruined, because it has just about all of the traits of a great death metal album, including grinding, bottom-heavy guitar rumbles, and crazy drumming. "Swarm of Terror" is highlighted by jackhammer drumming, whereas the next two tracks ("Our Savior Sleeps" and "Challenge the Storm") feature speaker-vibrating riffs and super-fast, thumping blast beats (plus, the latter track has a pair of fairly long and tasty guitar solos.) The skinsman really gets to show off his talents on the title track, where he drives the rhythm with crazy, all-over-the-place drumming. The soft, dwindling guitar strings on song number five, "Dead to Me," offer the first glimpse of melody, but it's short-lived, because the next track brings on a barrage of booming guitars and drums (plus, this song even has some creepy, spoken-word whispers.) The last song worth mentioning is "My Own Enemy," which has blinding guitars and a fast, pounding double bass drum beneath the surface. "Harnessing Ruin" does not get my vote for the best death metal album of 2005, but, to be fair, Immolation did have a lot of competition that year. So pick this up if you're a death metal diehard... A. Stutheit

pass = hmbreed

D-load album :-) http://lix.in/84091a
D-load album :-) http://lix.in/996281
====================================