Review by Arek on June 27, 2025.

This album was one of the essential death metal albums and showcased the band flourishing on all cylinders.  There is a dark atmosphere here to the work and it is heavy and powerful.  The album pulls all the right punches to make a huge impact on the listener.  It is a very sizzling display of death metal might and an exciting addition to their discography.

The musicianship on the album is quite stellar with cascading guitars and has a production job that is top notch.  The entire affair is heavy and brutal and makes good use of distortion to a maximum effect to captivate the listener.  The band would have more well performed albums in the future, but this is certainly a highlight.

In terms of flaws, the album doesn’t have some of the positive traits of Unholy Cult and Majesty and Decay and this comes up a little wanting and is not the masterpiece of alums like Human and simply another excellent album by the band.

Overall, this album was an entertaing diversion and one of the strongest that the band has put out to date.  It is an influential album to bands like Behemoth and Nile and very interesting to listen to.  Fans of the heavy end of death metal will find like with as will those liking heavy music in general.

Rating: 7.7/10

Review by Krys on February 21, 2001.

Finally we have an Immolation album that was released one year after the previous one. And what a piece of music it is. What really amazes me is that material on "Close To A World Below", even though produced in less time than any other Immolation album, is better than ever before. I just have one piece of advice for the band: Release albums every year, damn it!

Always in shadow of big brothers like Morbid Angel or Cannibal Corpse (although not any more!), Immolation’s 'Close To A World Below' belongs to one of the best releases in death metal sector of the year 2000. What can I say about this album? Let’s start by saying that if you had attention deficit problems prior to listening to this album, you might need professional care afterward!


In the guitar department, Thomas Wilkinson & Robert Vigna take you on an insane and complex trip through the madhouse where drummer Alex Hernandez with ultrasonic speed will pound your head with a baseball bat and Ross Dolan will scream, moan and growl until you see monkeys take over the world. (I had to do it for 'Atomic', he loves them. Monkeys, of course!) I tell you, it’s a beautiful feeling knowing that there are bands like Immolation that create brutal but also atmospherically insane music without using keyboards or any special effects; just a little headbanger’s how-to-create-a-band tool kit - guitars and drums. Just beautiful!


"Close To A World Below" should be Immolation’s final break-through, which they fully deserve and have my absolute support. Album not recommended to people with short attention spans.


Ratting: 8.5 out of 10