It still gives me the creeps when I think of the events that took place nearly two days after my 20th birthday. The 11th of September 2001 will always be remembered as the day the world took notice of a much bigger evil than mankind ever dared to think of. Thousands of people faced a horrible death, and the majority of the inhabitants of America lost their sense of safety.
Thankfully, there is one band hailing from the ashes of New York that has finally released a grand declaration of war against the accused. None other than the ‘unholy’ Immolation have finally released a follow-up to the astonishing ‘Close To A World Below’ album: an album that showed a new and more powerful Immolation, with great musicianship and sound engineering on top, which of course resulted in a series of shows throughout the entire world and, more importantly, the recognition Immolation deserved.
The new album goes by the name of ‘Unholy Cult’, and quite honestly, I think it’s the perfect title. On the one hand, Immolation can still be seen as one of the unholiest bands on the face of this earth, and on the other, the new album can already be seen as total cult. Plus, I even dare to say that Satan himself revealed this album title to these men. Without any doubt, I can clearly say that this is Immolation’s strongest and most hateful album to date. The core of Immolation’s sound stayed pretty much the same as on the ‘Close To A World Below’ album, while there are also some definite improvements witnessed on ‘Unholy Cult’. There is an almost unavoidable eerie atmosphere on this album; it carries the same evil expression that bands like Venom and Slayer used to have on their first albums. Of course, there are still a lot of comparisons with that other band, but quite frankly, I’m sick and tired of mentioning them, because in my vision Immolation has more potential than that ‘other’ band.
The way Immolation stirs melodic guitar intros with crushing blastbeats and breathtaking solos still makes my face turn pale. This means that every time I listen to this album, I become as unholy as possible. It makes me want to join some kind of cult… an ‘Unholy Cult’!!!
Most of the songs on this album could have featured on ‘Close To A World…’, but there are small fragments that make this album absolutely 100% unique. I guess the hatred from the 11th of September provided the extra energy to create immense, neck-tearing songs like the opener ‘Of Martyrs And Men’, ‘Wolf Among The Flock’, and ‘A Kingdom Divided’. Still, there is also room for more complex song structuring in ‘Unholy Cult’, ‘Reluctant Messiah’, and the ultimate killer of the album: ‘Rival The Eminent’ (almost as brilliant as ‘Father, You’re Not A Father’). Nevertheless, all eight songs gathered on ‘Unholy Cult’ make the album more than cult, and I’m pretty sure that this could be the Death Metal album of the year (though I am still expecting Malevolent Creation).
If this doesn’t scare the shit out of those who are responsible for the events of the 11th of September, then I’m afraid nothing will scare them… ‘Victory’s Crown… Shall Be Ours!!!!’
