Metalcatto
It finally happened. The band I always joked about is here. Immolation is like a shark in the sense that after millions of years, it has barely changed in essence. It’s been a crazy release weekend, which is why Descent has a hard task ahead in terms of impressing us, especially if the band is going to blast the same thing again and again. The real question: can this beat Close to a World Below?
Well, not exactly, but there’s no shame in that. Descent shows how, regardless of the decades, Immolation can still produce some of the ugliest and heaviest riffs in the business. Everything the band is famous for is here: crushing riffs, odd time signatures, even weirder songwriting, and moments that create an illusion of atonality. The album offers the whole package. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it reminds you why this wheel was worth inventing in the first place.
Yet, everything feels slightly lighter and more balanced this time. There are small changes in terms of production that make Descent a “cleaner” album than some of its predecessors. Notice that it’s not a huge difference, because as I said before, Immolation is the definition of consistency in extreme Metal. So if you’ve enjoyed anything the band has put out in the last twenty-five years, you have nothing to fear. This is their bread and butter, served hot and fresh.
That’s why, even if this album is Death Metal mastery, I can’t avoid saying “okay, awesome. Moving on.” I mean no disrespect, but you’d require some neurodivergency to tell the last three Immolation albums apart. One starts to wonder how interesting it would be if the band took some risks for once. Yet, not many OG Death Metal acts can keep up with the younger bands. Maybe this is as good as it gets at this stage of their career.
Alright, enough bashing. We should just be happy that Immolation is back and remains the reliable hammer it’s always been. Only a handful of bands can do that. The fact that this act is casually delivering one of the heaviest albums of the year like we deliver 400 words daily is outstanding, to say the least. So yes, I’ll keep messing with Immolation—because no other band can do things quite this way. Consistency at this level is its own form of greatness, even if it doesn’t make for exciting reviews. Descent delivers exactly what it promises. No more, no less. And sometimes, that’s enough.
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release date: April 10th, 2026
Website: https://immolation.bandcamp.com/album/descent
Country: USA
Score: 4.0/5.0
Metal Eclipse Reviews 