Chuck Schuldiner Project

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Close to a World Below - Immolation

Close to a World below does a phenomenal job with the traditional death metal sound, extremely precise as always. Everything about it feels very "plain" in the best sense of the term. Close to a World below is a very no frills death metal album that doesn't attempt to go above and beyond with any individual instrument, and it sounds very natural as a result.

There are plenty of discordant, chords incorporated into the riffs that really break things up and give this album a really fresh feel, in particular in the song furthest from the truth. Everything is played at a blistering pace, but everything is still defined, unlike an awful lot of death metal records. The recording quality in general, on this album, is very good, especially on the drums, which sound more present and less "clicky" than a lot of the other albums I've heard. The drums, by the way, like everything else, seem to be played in a very "plain" manner, with great skill. The drummer doesn't use showy tactics like behemoth or miseration do, don't get me wrong, they both have phenomenal drummers, they're just a bit "showy" and tend to play as fast as possible. Its a great effort, and a lot of times, its great, but it doesn't sound as natural as Immolation's drums do. This slower pace and "plainer" playing style doesn't mean there's a decrease in quality, the recording studio did some really cool things with the panning on the drums, and they would have been great if left alone. The bass is present, if just barely, as far as I can tell, and its played well enough by the lead singer, but I'd prefer if Immolation got a new bassist, brought it further up in the mix, and let the vocalist stick to vocals; which he does nearly perfectly. 

The worst that can really be said about Close to a World below is that occasionally it gets a bit too fast to really comprehend, and that the songs might seem the slightest bit repetitive as a result. Also, a handful of transitions are rough, but, as a whole, this is an excellent CD that you should definitely own.

9/10

Close To A World Below

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