Immolation

D

ealing exclusively in old-school basic death metal, Immolation boasted nary a melody or a subtlety. The band had scarcely changed over the years. Immolation was founded after the demise of Rigor Mortis (NY), a band formed in May 1986 by Andrew Sakowicz (bass/vocals) Dave Wilkinson (drums) and Robert Vigna (guitar). After two demos Sakowicz left the band in early 1988 and was replaced by Ross Dolan, and the band's name was changed to Immolation to release two more demos simply titled Demo '88 and Demo '89.

It would be in 1991 that their brutal assault came in the form of Dawn of Possession under the membership of Ross Dolan (vocals/bass), Robert Vigna (guitar), Tom Wilkinson (guitar) and Neol Boback (drums; Craig Smilowski replaced him in 1996), an album of brutal uncompromising Death that was finally followed by a compilation of all their early demo work entitled Stepping On Angels... Before Dawn (1994), Here in After (1996).

Alex Hernandez replaced Smilowski for the subsequent albums of Failures for Gods (1999), Close to a World Below (2000) and Unholy Cult (2002). Close to a World Below also saw a membership change of Bill Taylor take over from Wilkinson. Stepping On Angels... Before Dawn re-release and Harnessing Ruin arrived in 2004 & 2005 respectively. 2016 saw Alex Bouks assume rhythm guitar.