“In the Darkened Rays of Shining Death Metal Light” – Immolation, Imperial Triumphant, Mortiferum and Crematorium, Conquer 1720 in Los Angeles

March 1st, 2022

Religion: The Crusades, The Dark Ages, the Salem Witch Trials, murders in the name of one’s hollow god, priests molesting kids/teens and attempting to cover it up from the Catholic Church, just some of the countless examples of religion’s toxic impact, upon centuries of time. In my experience growing up, with various family members of all kinds attempting to sink in religion without question, to seeing the poisonous cult I feel Christianity, the Quran, Islam especially, embark onto the foreseeing, gullible world. It makes good-hearted people, do unspeakable horrors and things to others. Often times, I feel it’s too late to make everlasting, positive change in religion, even with knowing the % of North Americans fleeing from religion has grown over the past several years. Sadly, the damage has been done, and still continues to negatively inflict, and impact the masses.

Rewind the clock to 1988, in Yonkers, New York. Death Metal would take a massive step in a whole new direction: Immolation. Founded by bassist/vocalist Ross Dolan and absolute songwriting and guitar wizard Bob Vigna, Immolation set forth creating bombastic dynamics into Death Metal, with cold-calculated, inverted fast-picking chords, bouncing harmonics as conceptual musical themes, as well as a creatively written, profound lyrical source on Anti-religion, society, and the means of breaking free from those clamping chains of religion. Immolation 30+ year span, now 11 albums into their illustrious career, released Acts of God, as of a couple weeks ago, and is currently embarking on a stellar tour package, alongside Imperial Triumphant and Mortiferum. Surprisingly the only Southern California appearance on this tour, the 1720 club in Los Angeles showed up in great numbers, anticipating a stunning extreme Metal performance.

Starting off this Metal Tuesday, Crematorium was the first act to perform. Around for a long time in the LA/OC Metal scene, Crematorium came back to play shows in 2015, after a 5-year hiatus. From intense Groove Metal, to a Punk-like energy to their Death Metal chops, there’s a little flavor for everyone to try. Vocalist Daniel Dismal had the crowd in stitches, with his sarcastic, hilarious, self-deprecating humour. Not to be lost in the mix, his vocals ranged from rattling-speed barks, alongside a dystopian-like, spoken word to the bursts in the songs. The mix wasn’t perfect, but I could hear some Hyper-blasting from Aaron Cross, which wowed a number of fans in the crowd. The material was more varied from Crematorium, then I remember seeing them as far back as 2006. I found the variety between the groove breakdowns, as well as the Grindcore-based speed and tone the band played in, were their overall strength. Crematorium got the early crowd going, and was a pleasant set to watch.

Seeing them already now a month ago on the 1st day of California Deathfest VI, Mortiferum seemed to make an extra effort to be noticed on this special Death Metal show, and they did not disappoint. The crowd, around the middle of their set, filled up 1720. Although at California Deathfest VI, they were solid, the sheer volume in their sound alone told me it was going to be an even further, soaring performance. The weight of their distortion, you could feel it in your bones. Sometimes, a band can have a sound performance at a festival, but maybe quite not stand out, due to the lineups and the amount energy, festivals generally bring. With this tour however, I felt Mortiferum knew the attention was on them as the official first band opening the entire tour, and took sweet advantage. I will highlight each performance and review until the end of time, when a Metal drummer does any type of vocal work. Alex Mody’s crafty drum fills and flaring cymbal work, while growling several lines alongside the echoing, haunting gurgles from Max Bowman, were a sight to witness. The highlight of Mortiferum’s set, was the crushing atmosphere of their Doom/Death Metal elements, and used to prolific effect. Ghoulish, haunting notes, like the specters taking your soul from the funeral. Mortiferum’s set was ravishing, and if this is as good as it gets from the band, we’re looking forward to a headlining tour.

From nervous murmurs, heightened anticipation, and an overall hushed atmosphere, as Imperial Triumphant’s return to Los Angeles, were moments away. An appreciative honour to travel to Brooklyn, Halloween weekend several months ago to catch both shows at Saint Vitus, it wasn’t just in the East Coast that the band received such a roaring ovation, but over this side of the country, too. From the hypnotic attire, breathtaking, behemoth-sounding drumming abilities of Kenny Grohowski, to the colours gleaming on-stage, you’re almost exhausted watching the band, without moshing once. The eerie, apocalyptic intro sample to “Atomic Age”, goes to that inverted chord sequence, off a different, separate rhythm, all while Zach Ezrin’s ghostly, piercing void-sounding growls, glossed the venue walls with a paralysis to not take your eyes off the stage. It’s rather insane that Imperial Triumphant gets that twisted, chaotic sound in standard tuning. One of the surprises of their set, the marvelous track “Cosmopolis”, composed the crowd into a whirling frenzy. Grohowski’s descension of tempo, introduced flashy, effortless looking Jazz beats, complimenting Ezrin’s tapping technique. Steve Blanco’s stage presence, as well as walking down the side to perform the last notes in the crowd, motorized the crowd into 5th gear. I felt too the volume in his bass attack, was in the sound mix excellently, bouncing off, and creating these sinister tones with the scrape-riffing and frenetic notes exploding on the stage. Imperial Triumphant’s magnificent set went by in a flash, and with their new album being released this Summer, it feels like a potential album of 2022 candidate.

From one type of dissonant style of Metal, to another kind, the legends and innovators themselves of dissonance in Metal, Immolation was met with the amount of respect and happiness to see, as they truly deserve. Fresh off their latest 15-song album, Acts of God, 7 tracks from the record would be performed, with fans responding beautifully to it. I’ve only heard the first half of the record so far, but the glowing reviews I’m told from, and have seen from quality outlets and bands, it’s time 2022 had some soothing, enriching news. The clean, brooding interlude at the 2:00 mark in “The Age of No Light”, showed the desolation-like theme within the newest record. Steve Shalaty’s nimble, cymbal hits punctuated the barely-distorted riff, into a colossal passage of despair and groove. Immolation’s strengths are aplenty, with electric, catchy (not your usual mainstream catchy) harmonic seeds planted all around the notes and sequences. Ross Dolan’s growls and stage presence, sound literally as they did when the band initially started. I’m still quite amazed at the viciousness in his vocal delivery, 30+ years later. They especially stood out in the short burst of a track in “Broken Pray”, as the 3-minute buzzsaw pummeled the listener further into the decaying dirt, with Dolan’s vocal patterns weaving along the squeal-based riff around the 1:18 mark.

Only 4 songs off the entire set were from 2002, and before. It worked well in this set, because as strong as the new record certainly sounds, it made those particular tracks hit the crowd like a cement truck. “Father, You’re Not a Father”, the bleak, helplessness-based track of a priest raping an innocent follower of the church, hearing that impactful, signature intro immediately sonically assaulting the listener’s ear. Released in 2000, Close to a World Below, with some of the most exquisite, steel boulders-like sounding production, I’ve ever heard on any album ever, it was a comforting reminder to hear this classic hold up beyond comprehension. The joy of the fans heightened with two tracks played from their 1991 debut, Dawn of Possession. Still quite early in their development, yet the progress and abilities at that point were still head and shoulders above countless bands. The classic songs were immense, and powerful in their appearances.

Bob Vigna. A name that has guitar nerds, music theory students, as well as the hardcore moshing fan, sing harmonious praise and adoration. The driving force behind Immolation’s technical, memorable, twisted-riff structures, unworldly Blues/Jazz inspired solos within a Metal confine, and overall sinister musical wonders, truly separate the band into one of the most astounding names in all of Death Metal. That was noted, coloured and highlighted in “Unholy Cult.” Arguably one of their most outstanding records, you could argue best, and also their transition record into Harnessing Ruin, setting forth the new and still quality era Immolation currently plays in. Yet, that feeling of the spider tightening the web trap for its pray, brought itself to life with that opening riff sequence, highlighting the fantastic showmanship and ability of Vigna. The outro riff, certainly one of my favorites from the band and of all time, kept the audience in a dazzling daze. Immolation’s 60-minute set and some change, ended on a blasting note in “Apostle”, giving the fans one more chance to salivate and enjoy this remarkable set.

Close are we, to a world below. The stunning horrors, hypocritical concepts, passages, and the violent nature of religion, have cost a countless amount of lives over the time of this planet’s inception. Despite successful countries in the world with the heavy population believing in no god, the acts of anger, judgment, ill-will, and sheer terror continue to affect a vast amount of communities, ideas, and the choice to not believe in any god. Immolation’s incredible ability to create and perform outstanding technical, darkened Death Metal, including a wonderous perspective on the world through bold, creative lyrical content, has Extreme Metal listeners for now decades, chanting praises for one of the all-time greats. Three years since Immolation’s last tour here, we certainly hope not to wait that long for the next.