Immolation is an integral piece in the formation of death metal. The group is part of the first wave of American death metal bands. Although they have never received the recognition of bands such as Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Morbid Angel and Obituary, the group has remained one of the strongest, most consistent acts throughout their twenty-year existence. Along with bands such as Mortician, Cannibal Corpse, and Suffocation, Immolation helped put New York on the map for this brutal, underground musical style.
In 1986, the group formed under the banner of Rigor Mortis. Two years later, they released the Warriors of Doom demo, changed their name to Immolation and then released Demo 1. After this release, Immolation joined the ranks of Gorguts, Death, Obituary, Deicide, Cynic and other influential death metal groups of the time on Roadrunner Records. Roadrunner released their debut full-length, Dawn of Possession.
After the Dawn of Possession album, Roadrunner dropped the band, with Metal Blade picking the band up and releasing three albums. In the early part of the new millennium, Immolation signed with Listenable Records out of France, where they remain to this day. Century Media picked up U.S. distribution for the last two albums, Harnessing Ruin and Shadows in the Light. The later album shows the group at its finest. It contains all the elements that drew fans to this group in the first place. It is technical, brutal, dark and heavy, yet more refined and of a much better production.
Immolation has been vigorously touring to support Shadows in the Light. Earlier in the year, they took to the road with death metal giants Suffocation and Skinless on an American tour. Their second U.S. tour involves them sharing a bus with Rotting Christ and Belphegor with Averse Seferia following. After a pummeling performance in San Antonio, Texas, axe chopping, master of harmonics Robert Vigna spoke to Blistering.com.
Blistering.com: On your statement concerning this tour, you mentioned you’ve known Rotting Christ for years. How do you know these guys? When did you first meet them?
Robert Vigna: We toured with them. Back in the late 90s, we were touring in Europe. We did some festivals together. We’ve known them from back in the day. We haven’t kept in close touch, but it seems just like yesterday when we were all hanging out, like we are now on this tour. It’s cool when you have that repoire with bands. They become friends, and even though you don’t see them for years, when you all get back together it is just like it was then. It is cool, definitely cool.
Blistering.com: So what is it like sharing a bus with them?
RV: It’s cool. Rotting Christ, ourselves and Belphegor are all sharing a bus. We’ve been having a good time. We are all easygoing people. It’s fine, we have a blast. It is nice for everybody. The other two bands are from Europe. They have to come over here, sit in a van for hours on end, get a driver and everything is separate. Rotting Christ came to us and said, “This is what we want to do. What should we do? We have not been over there before.” We set the pace. We wanted to make it like a European tour. All the bands are on the same bus, we all share the same backline, and we all share the same crew. We took all our personal backline out and let the other bands use it. It makes the tour run smoother. Everybody is together, and no schedules are running separate. It made it easier and smoother for everybody.
Blistering.com: Shadows in the Light is arguably the best album of your career. What about the recording/writing process made the final product so phenomenal?
RV: We have worked together so many times, and this time I think we all clicked together good. It was the second album with Steve playing drums. He had more time to work on stuff, and I think we made sure the drums came out a little better this time. They came out clearer and more audible. All together, I think it is a very smooth recording; you can hear everything. The overlay guitar stuff came out great. Musically and production-wise, everything gelled together. We are really happy with it. I think it is one of the best things we have done. It is very aggressive and dark. It has all the qualities of this band, as well as the uniqueness.
Blistering.com: What was it like recording at Millbrook Sound Studios?
RV: It was very good. This was the fifth album we did with Paul. It’s pretty much second nature now. We go in there feeling relaxed. It’s a nice atmosphere. We enjoy the location. You want to be comfortable in the studio. For us to get the stuff down on tape, these days on hard drive, we have enough things to worry about. So it is very comfortable for us, and it makes for a better record because we are comfortable. We go in there, bang it out and get it done. It’s always a good experience going there.
Blistering.com: Tell me about the album title.
RV: Shadows in the Light really came around because of the song title, which deals with, however you want to look at it, sleeper cells going around in our country and the world. It is about shadows in the light hiding in the reality around us. Obviously, they are trying to make it look like everybody else, but they are not. The album title is more into that whole thing, but with everything in general, all the things around us. Whether it be religion or how political leaders are supposed to be doing the right thing for us, but we know they are not. They are in it for their own selves, for their own gain. You could look at the songs and lyrics in different ways. You may look at it in a darker way, which is fine because that is the way we write. Even though it’s about one thing, someone can get something else out of it.
We keep it dark in feeling. The way we work, it is obvious if you look at what the words are saying. We write about what is relevant in the world today, what is going on in the world of terrorism. At the same time, we don’t want to be overly political, so we make it where it could be other things. It’s all about what you want to get out of it.
