Dies Irae - Immolation
MetalBlade Records
Death Metal
9 songs (31'57)
Release year: 2000
MetalBlade Records
Reviewed by Crims
Archive review

Dies Irae is a band that was formed in the early 90’s and released an EP in 1995. The band, to my knowledge, was put on hiatus due to Mauser joining Vader. In 2000 Dies Irae released this CD, titled Immolated. Dies Irae feature Mauser and Doc from Vader and Hiro from Sceptic, with Novy on vocals. Vader is of course a very well known Polish Death Metal powerhouse, and while Sceptic isn’t as well known, they play a similar style of Death Metal.

I suppose the immediate question is does this band sound anything like Vader? You bet. Dies Irae aren’t a carbon copy though, as there is a heavy U.S. Death Metal influence from the likes of Cannibal Corpse, early Morbid Angel, and Deicide. So in short, Dies Irae play brutal, aggressive, and fast Death Metal in the vein of Vader mixed with a touch of the US sound. The overall sound is very similar to Vader (the guitar and drum production is almost identical), and Doc's drumming sound should be instantly recognizable to fans of Vader. The drum sound is not as loud as it was on Vader’s Litany, but it is very powerful and upfront. The actual song arrangements are different though, and this is the main aspect that separates Dies Irae from Vader. The majority of the CD is fast, however, Dies Irae include various slow to mid-paced, Doom/Death sections which add a good atmosphere to the songs. I think the best example of this would be on The Nameless City. The leads and drumming are obvious highlights, with Lion Of Knowledge containing three very well done leads, and Doc, as always, is all over the place. His fastest and most brutal performance is on Hidden Lore.

Despite the slower sludgy Doom sections, some songs lack variation and sound just a tad similar at times. It isn’t overwhelming but you definitely notice it. Likewise, the vocals aren’t the greatest. Vocalist Novy uses a guttural Death style that is like a cross between Peter from Vader and Corpsegrinder from Cannibal Corpse. The good thing is that it sounds somewhat original, but I’ve heard better. Also, the length of the CD is just a little too short.

Overall I did enjoy this CD and it has grown on me over time. The songs are definitely brutal and fast enough, with plenty of crushing riffs and insane drumming; and as an added the extra the songs contain a good atmosphere and surprisingly the lyrics are good too, if you care to read them. The lyrics mostly deal with apocalyptic ideals and dark/horror fantasy… interesting to the say the least. Fans of Vader will really like this, and Death Metal fans who don’t like Vader, fear not, you’ll probably still like this because there is enough of the US Death Metal influence to satisfy that fan spectrum.

Next week I’ll have a review of Dies Irae’s most recent release, The Sin War.

Killing Songs :
Zohak, Sirius B, Immolated, The Nameless City, Hidden Lore, Lion Of Knowledge
Crims quoted 78 / 100
Other albums by Dies Irae that we have reviewed:
Dies Irae - Sculpture Of Stone reviewed by Crims and quoted 82 / 100
Dies Irae - The Sin War reviewed by Crims and quoted 80 / 100
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