UMUR
"Shadows in the Light" is the seventh full-length studio album by US, New York based death metal act Immolation. The album was released through Listenable Records in May 2007. It´s the successor to "Harnessing Ruin" from February 2005 although the two full-length studio albums are bridged by the May 2007 "Hope and Horror" EP (released only a few days before "Shadows in the Light"). Immolation recorded 13 tracks during the November 2006 recording sessions for "Shadows in the Light". 10 tracks appear on "Shadows in the Light", while the remaining 3 tracks appear on "Hope and Horror".
Stylistically the material on the album is unmistakably the sound of Immolation. Twisted, labyrinthical, and dissonant guitar riffs, abstract lead work, creative technical drumming, and Ross Dolan´s brutal growling vocals in front, spewing out anti-christian/blasphemous lyrics (and other dark themed topics). It´s like a whiff of accessibility has hit the death metal veterans though, and the slightly more accessible sound suits them well. It´s still brutal and challenging death metal, but "Shadows in the Light" is not quite as impenetrable and uncompromising as their previous releases. "Shadows in the Light" also features a clear, powerful, and detailed sounding production, which greatly enchances Immolation´s music. The last couple of releases suffered slightly from thin sounding production jobs, which didn´t provide the material on those releases the best conditions to shine.
Upon conclusion "Shadows in the Light" is one of the standout albums in Immolation´s discography. They changed their sound and style a bit here, and that development and change of sound was necessary. While the last couple of albums are arguably quality death metal releases, Immolation did sound like they had stagnated a bit, but with "Shadows in the Light" they bring in new musical elements and songwriting ideas, a slightly more technical playing style, and a clearly defined sound production, which ensure that the material shine. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.
