You know a night is heading into dangerous territory when New York’s Immolation ends up being the least extreme and most approachable act on the bill. That does not mean their set offered anything resembling comfort, far from it. The veterans delivered a no nonsense, career spanning barrage that checked every box you want from a classic death metal show, aggression, precision, weight and a level of musicianship earned over decades.
After an ominous intro built around the unsettling pull of the tritone, the blast beats detonated and those cavernous vocals came crashing in, and the room was instantly dragged under. The songs were dense, punishing, yet surprisingly tuneful at moments (relatively speaking of course), with evil riffs that cut through the chaos rather than drowning in it. For thirty relentless minutes, Immolation did exactly what they came to do, flattening the room and leaving the audience reeling, a brutal opening statement for a night that would only descend further into darkness.
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