Immolation (band)

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American death metal band

title: "Immolation (band)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1986-establishments-in-new-york-(state)", "death-metal-musical-groups-from-new-york-(state)", "musical-groups-established-in-1986", "musical-quartets-from-new-york-(state)", "nuclear-blast-artists", "roadrunner-records-artists", "metal-blade-records-artists", "listenable-records-artists"] description: "American death metal band" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immolation_(band)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American death metal band ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]

FieldValue
nameImmolation
imageImmolation Metal Frenzy 2019 06.jpg
captionImmolation at Metal Frenzy in 2019
image_upright1.2
aliasRigor Mortis (1986–1988)
originYonkers, New York, U.S.
genreDeath metal
years_active1986–present
labelRoadrunner, Metal Blade, Listenable, Nuclear Blast
associated_actsIncantation, Goreaphobia, Rellik, Fallen Christ, Gangs of Old Ladies,
website
current_membersRobert Vigna
Ross Dolan
Steve Shalaty
Alex Bouks
past_membersThomas Wilkinson
Alex Hernandez
Craig Smilowski
Neal Boback
Bill Taylor
::

| name = Immolation | image = Immolation Metal Frenzy 2019 06.jpg | caption = Immolation at Metal Frenzy in 2019 | image_upright = 1.2 | alias = Rigor Mortis (1986–1988) | origin = Yonkers, New York, U.S. | genre = Death metal | years_active = 1986–present | label = Roadrunner, Metal Blade, Listenable, Nuclear Blast | associated_acts = Incantation, Goreaphobia, Rellik, Fallen Christ, Gangs of Old Ladies, | website = | current_members = Robert Vigna Ross Dolan Steve Shalaty Alex Bouks | past_members = Thomas Wilkinson Alex Hernandez Craig Smilowski Neal Boback Bill Taylor

Immolation is an American death metal band from Yonkers, New York. They are considered one of the leaders of the New York death metal scene along with Incantation, Mortician and Suffocation.

History

Immolation was founded after the demise of Rigor Mortis (NY), a band formed in May 1986 by Andrew Sakowicz (bass guitar, vocals) Dave Wilkinson (drums), and Robert Vigna (guitar). After recording the Decomposed and Warriors of Doom demos, Sakowicz left the band in early 1988 and was replaced by Ross Dolan, and the band's name was changed to "Immolation". The new lineup put out two studio demos, in 1988 and 1989, and gained a worldwide following in the underground death metal scene. Immolation signed a record deal with Roadrunner Records and released their debut album Dawn of Possession in 1991. After leaving Roadrunner, the band released "Stepping on Angels," a compilation of demo releases and live tracks. In 1995 the band was signed by Metal Blade Records and released three albums: Here in After, Failures for Gods, and Close to a World Below. After their second album, drummer Craig Smilowski left the band and was replaced by Alex Hernandez. Their next three albums, Unholy Cult, Harnessing Ruin, and Shadows in the Light were released by French label Listenable Records and Century Media in the US.

In May 2001, Immolation were the headliners for a tour in Europe with supporting bands: Deranged, Deströyer 666, Decapitated and Soul Demise. Unholy Cult saw the departure of guitarist Thomas Wilkinson and the addition of ex-Angelcorpse guitarist Bill Taylor. Steve Shalaty replaced Hernandez on Harnessing Ruin. In February 2008, Immolation toured the US alongside bands such as Rotting Christ, Belphegor and Averse Sefira. In January and February 2010, Immolation toured with headliner Nile along with Krisiun, Rose Funeral, and Dreaming Dead.

In March 2010, Immolation released Majesty and Decay through Nuclear Blast. In 2011, they released the 5-track Providence EP through Scion A/V as a free download. In May 2013, Immolation released Kingdom of Conspiracy, again via Nuclear Blast, and toured with Cannibal Corpse and Napalm Death on a tour sponsored by Decibel Magazine. At the end of 2016, Bill Taylor left the band for personal reasons, and was replaced by Alex Bouks. In 2017 Immolation released their tenth full-length album Atonement. In 2022, Immolation released their eleventh full-length album Acts of God.

Artistry

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Immolation_Metal_Frenzy_2019_22.jpg" caption="Robert Vigna performing in 2019."] ::

Musical style and instrumentation

Immolation uses riffs written in dissonant harmonic patterns, often dueling between the two guitars, typically over complex rhythm and drum patterns. Their riffs are often a combination of tremolo picking, rapid power chord changes and pinched harmonics to create a wall of sound that many other bands have attempted to emulate. The band's guitar parts are often complex and technically proficient; drum parts are often written to follow the guitar riffs in a way that is unusual for most death metal.

Guitarist Robert Vigna and vocalist/bassist Ross Dolan have been the only constant members throughout the band's history. Vigna is considered to be one of the most talented death metal guitarists and is well known for his complex riffing and wailing solos.

Lyrics

Immolation's lyrics from Dawn of Possession to Unholy Cult are explore themes of anti-religion, namely anti-Christianity. Beginning with Harnessing Ruin, there are more lyrics touching on other subjects such as politics. Bassist Ross Dolan explained that the band's shift in lyrical content was motivated by current events. He said:

::quote

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The band once again explored themes of anti-religion on their eleventh album Acts of God. Dolan elaborated: ::quote "When we touch on religion with this record [...] I think it’s done in a new and fresh way [...] religion is still a big force in the world, it’s not something I care for, but I see how it impacts people. It’s something we are always fond of exploring, that mindset and how it affects people, and also the institutions themselves and the corruption within and the horrible things done in the name of religion [...] I have a lot of friends and we know a lot of people and fans we’ve met over the years who are pretty blunt and say “Hey, I’m not down with the anti-religious thing, but I get it” – I think they appreciate our take on it because we don’t attack so much the individual spiritualism that people find – we attack more the institutions [...] I respect anybody’s right to believe and feel and listen to and follow or do whatever they want. My only problem is when that creeps into my world and religion becomes a thorn in my side when I’m not a religious person at all. When religion works into how laws are passed and how it dictates certain things in our society – that should have zero place in my world and any who chooses not to believe’s world. ::

Legacy and influence

Immolation, along with Incantation, helped bring the New York death metal scene to the attention of the underground, and are noted for their contributions to the genre as a whole. Hence, they are considered one of the most influential American death metal bands. The band's debut album is frequently cited as being an important and highly influential album in the genre, having laid down the blueprint that bands such as Cryptopsy and Suffocation would follow with their respective debuts.

Members

  • Robert Vigna – lead guitar (1986–present)
  • Ross Dolan – bass, vocals (1988–present)
  • Steve Shalaty – drums (2003–present)
  • Alex Bouks – rhythm guitar (2016–present)

Former

  • Andrew Sakowicz – bass, vocals (1986–1988)
  • Dave Wilkinson – drums (1986–1988; died 2018)
  • Thomas Wilkinson – rhythm guitar (1988–2001)
  • Neal Boback – drums (1988–1989)
  • Craig Smilowski – drums (1989–1996)
  • Alex Hernandez – drums (1996–2003)
  • Bill Taylor – rhythm guitar (2001–2016)

Live musicians

Timeline ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:15 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:05/01/1986 till: TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1987 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1987

Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:Lead value:teal legend:Lead_guitar id:Rhythm value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_guitar id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Studio value:black legend:Studio_album id:bars value:gray(0.9) BackgroundColors = bars:bars

LineData = layer:back color:studio at:07/19/1991 at:02/13/1996 at:06/01/1999 at:11/07/2000 at:10/28/2002 at:02/05/2005 at:05/08/2007 at:03/09/2010 at:05/10/2013 at:02/24/2017 at:02/18/2022

BarData = bar:Andrew text:"Andrew Sakowicz" bar:Ross text:"Ross Dolan" bar:Robert text:"Robert Vigna" bar:Thomas text:"Thomas Wilkinson" bar:Bill text:"Bill Taylor" bar:AlexB text:"Alex Bouks" bar:Dave text:"Dave Wilkinson" bar:Neal text:"Neal Boback" bar:Craig text:"Craig Smilowski" bar:AlexH text:"Alex Hernandez" bar:Steve text:"Steve Shalaty"

PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Andrew from:05/01/1986 till:01/01/1988 color:Vocals bar:Ross from:01/01/1988 till:end color:Vocals bar:Andrew from:05/01/1986 till:01/01/1988 color:Bass width:3 bar:Ross from:01/01/1988 till:end color:Bass width:3 bar:Robert from:05/01/1986 till:end color:Lead bar:Robert from:05/01/1986 till:01/01/1988 color:Rhythm width:3 bar:Thomas from:01/01/1988 till:05/01/2001 color:Rhythm bar:Bill from:05/01/2001 till:10/01/2016 color:Rhythm bar:AlexB from:10/01/2016 till:end color:Rhythm bar:Dave from:05/01/1986 till:01/01/1988 color:Drums bar:Neal from:01/01/1988 till:10/01/1989 color:Drums bar:Craig from:10/01/1989 till:07/01/1996 color:Drums bar:AlexH from:07/01/1996 till:03/01/2003 color:Drums bar:Steve from:03/01/2003 till:end color:Drums

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

  • Hope and Horror (EP + DVD, 2007)
  • Providence (EP, 2011)

DVD

  • Bringing Down the World (DVD, 2004)

Compilation

  • Stepping on Angels... Before Dawn (1995)

Book

  • Into Everlasting Fire: The Official History of Immolation (2024)

References

References

  1. Young, Garry-Sharpe. "Immolation Biography". [[MusicMight]].
  2. Bowar, Chad. (January 3, 2008). "Rotting Christ, Immolation, Belphegor and Averse Sefira Tour Dates". [[About.com]].
  3. (July 15, 2009). "Nile announces first metal tour of 2010 with Immolation, Krisiun, Dreaming Dead, and Rose Funeral". Metal Injection.
  4. "Immolation - Providence EP | Scion Audio Visual". Scion A/V.
  5. (December 10, 2021). "IMMOLATION Announces New Album 'Acts Of God', Drops Video For First Single 'Apostle'".
  6. Purcell, Natalie J.. (May 5, 2003). "Death Metal music: the passion and politics of a subculture". McFarland.
  7. Dick, Chris. (August 2007). "#15 Robert Vigna (Immolation)". Decibel Magazine.
  8. Finer, Sam. (14 May 2013). "Immolation (Ross Dolan) Interview". Metal Blast.
  9. O'Connor, Andy. (2022-02-15). "Through Acts of God, Immolation Are Death Metal Masters — and Students".
  10. "Death Metal Music: The Passion and Politics of a Subculture". McFarland.
  11. "Immolation Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More ...".
  12. Schalek, Dave. "Essential Death Metal Albums". About.com.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1986-establishments-in-new-york-(state)death-metal-musical-groups-from-new-york-(state)musical-groups-established-in-1986musical-quartets-from-new-york-(state)nuclear-blast-artistsroadrunner-records-artistsmetal-blade-records-artistslistenable-records-artists