Maximum Metal Rating Legend

IMMOLATION- HARNESSING RUIN - 2005 - Listenable Records

Track Listing 01. Swarm of Terror 02. Our Savior Sleeps 03. Challenge the Storms 04. Harnessing Ruin 05. Dead to Me 06. Son of Iniquity 07. My Own Enemy 08. Crown the Liar 09. At Mourning’s Twilight

Immolation is a band that have earned my respect. They've been around for about fifteen years and honed a death metal style that is unique in the genre of a million copy-cat bands. When you hear this band's music, you instantly know who it is. Funny statement, but it's getting harder and harder to make such a claim in this day-in-age.

The first thing I noticed about "Harnessing Ruin" is that the tunes sound a bit more "controlled". In the world of extreme metal this could be a death sentence, but I think it helps Immolation's music become more listenable. The wacked-out quirky playing on the previous albums always caused me to raise an eyebrow but sometimes went a bit overboard. Don't get me wrong, this album is not some huge change of style. It's more like the few loose ends that bogged their previous works down were all finally addressed on this grand opus.

Unlike many death albums that take multiple spins to grow on me, "Harnessing Ruin" hit me like a ton of bricks. From the opening blaster "Swarm Of Terror", to the unrelenting title track, down to the epic closer "At Mourning's Ruin", I sat enthralled at how this goup of die-hards have taken their music to new heights with each and every new release. Make no mistake, Immolation are still as dark and evil as ever. So dark in fact that even the melodic sections sound foreboding, yet at the end of the day it's the diversity that makes it a much more interesting listen that their previous works. Simply put, this is quality, high-class death metal and is a must have for any fan of the genre.

Axeman