Release Roundup: 4/10/26

Top Picks

Immolation – Descent (death metal)

They don’t get brought up all that often, but if you told me Immolation were the best death metal band I’d have a hard time arguing against it. The New Yorkers have spent the last decade and a half dropping some of the best albums they or the genre have seen since their original, innovative run. Most recently, Acts of God (2022) seemed to receive more attention an acclaim than the band have maybe ever enjoyed, while also signaled something of a switch toward more grandiose and blackened soundscapes. Twelfth outing Descent continues that trajectory, while also being their best album since towering (or should that be chasming?) classic Close to a World Below (2000).

In addition to being the best Immolation album since the first four, Descent is also the best Behemoth and Ulcerate albums in about a decade—often at once. Fans of the latter band’s more posty modern output might balk at that assessment, but there’s an urgency and aggression to this album that I’ve personally felt lacking from their previous two records. It sounds also fucking evil and malevolent in a way the former band haven’t since The Satanist (2014). I make such direct and prolonged comparisons to these two acts because, in the thirty-five years since their formation, no one else has really even come close to unleashing the same sort of punishing sonic malevolence as Immolation have and, with Descent, they have only set the bar even higher.

Dir En Grey – Mortal Downer (weird/progressive/nuish metal, visual kei)

Mortal Downer perhaps constitutes a missing link between missing link between their (perhaps misguided) play at American alt-metal market Marrow of a Bone (2007) and plunge into to full-blown prog on Uroboros (2008). From the opening swell of "Isolation" and the swirling Tool-isms of "Kaijin ni Kitsu" and "En'En", it's clear that this is a more subdued and perhaps considered release than the two more extravagant and maximalist records that preceded it, so that it could perhaps also be considered the Arche (2014) to the Dum Spiro Spero (2011) of Pahlaris (2022). Similarly, iconic and immensely impressive vocalist Kyo's vocals are a lot more restrained and ethereal here than they have been across their more experimental albums, while still allowing him plenty of room to let loose when required. As with Arche, which is often remembered more for for its ballads and melodiscism than any outright aggression, there is still plenty of underlying menace in play here, however.

Mortal Downer is a definitively progressive metal record—far more so than most band who claim that categorisation these days. However, it is also the mos nu-metal-sounding Dir En Grey have been since the aforementioned Marrow of a Bone. Much of this has to do with bassist Toshiya, whose low-end rumble is much more accentuated here than it has been anywhere else throughout the band's discography. His presence, along with guitarists Kaoru and Die's penchant for playing within the lower end of their extended range here, gives the album a certain propulsive bounciness, while also exuding a sinister and refreshingly organic-sounding sludginess. Oddly, the closest comparison for their sound here might actually be Mudvayne, had they continued to develop the more interesting and progressive tendencies shown on The End of All Things to Come (2002) rather than becoming another watered down radio rock act.

The other thing that sets Mortal Downer apart is its enhanced use of electronics. Indeed the album does something of a soft reset about halfway through, with the tracks from "Hizumi to Ame" onward showcasing a darker, almost danceble electronic palette. It's here also that the album also really begins to shine and establish a more individual and intriguing identity, while also delivering album highlights like "Mobs" and "Momoku ga Yue ni", the latter of which would have perhaps also made for a more forceful and immediate opener.

As with all other Dir En Grey albums, Mortal Downer is a tad too long. and its near-hour-long length, coupled with persistently dense and challenging musicianship can make it a bit tough to get through in a single sitting. Some trimming of the earlier tracks, along with previously released, and slightly odd-fitting, stand-alone single "The Devil in Me", or perhaps a more truncated release schedule may have made for a more streamlined experience. But Dir en Grey have never been about doing things the easy way, and Mortal Downer is yet another triumphant reminder that there isn't anyone else who can do it quite like them, let alone anywhere near as well.