The Artisan Era are known for two things specifically as a label – its quality of bands and technical death metal. That's not to say every band on the label meets this criteria. For instance, the band we are looking at today, Immanifest.
This is a band that oozes quality, but as a fan of the label, some might walk in expecting pure shred. There is riff after riff on Macrobial, but this is an album that prides itself more on pushing itself along more than just shredding for the sake of shredding. Considering this is the debut album from this band as well, the amount of thought put into the songwriting is staggering. You could almost put Immanifest on the same level as current day Fleshgod Apocalypse in terms of pure songwriting.
The overall orchestration and use of narration throughout the album pushes the story the band is telling in your face. Macrobial is an album that fans of the genre will go back to and read the lyrics to. The use of the symphonic element is always present, but rarely does it feel like it's used to carry the music. The orchestration is more used to fill out the sound and keep and sections from falling flat compared to others. This keeps the album intriguing and gives each section its own bit of personality.
Instrumentally, this is a black metal album with tinges of death metal. It's clear when listening through, Immanifest avoid the chugging sound that's more present in death metal. This is in favour of a more blitzing and aggressive tone more similar to early black metal, like Immortal or Emperor. That's not to say that these death metal bits don't come through, "Neiflheim" for instance pulls a lot more from the death metal sound than the rest of the album. It makes sense, considering in this song and "Ultraterrestrial Creation" you'll find guest solos from guitarist, and label owner, Malcolm Pugh (Inferi, A Loathing Requiem).
For a debut release, Macrobial is a hell of a way to come out of the gate. Immanifest clearly want to prove they're sticking around and want to be top of their class. Given the amount of work and effort put into their first release, one can only guess how the second album will turn out. Let's not get ahead though, while the debut album may not actually release until Friday, Immanifest will let you listen to the album now, in full. Check out Macrobial, get some of that symphonic goodness in your life, it's good for you.
