The Legend is Immolation

Immolation is an absolute legend on the worldwide death metal arena.  One of the most influential extreme bands  for 20 years and counting, Immolation has just unleashed their latest opus to the masses entitled Majesty and Decay, courtesy of Nuclear Blast Records.  Even after all this time, the band remains as brutal as ever, complete with compelling lyrical imagery.  We recently spoke with founding member Bob Vigna on a variety of subjects including the history of the band, their vast musical output, the dynamic lyrical content, and what his favorite type of guitar is…

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Immolation, and how long you’ve been with the band.
Hey, Bob Vigna here,..I play lead guitar in the band and have been in IMMOLATION since its inception in 1988,…..that’s 22 years to you and me!! haha

With so many Immolation members coming and going throughout the years, what has made you stick with the band for all this time? And how discouraging is it to have band members come and go (especially drummers)?
Well, we really haven’t had that many line-up changes. Since we put out our first record in 1991, we changed drummers only twice, and those were years apart from each other. The only other change in line up was with our other guitarist, Bill Taylor, which was 10 years ago. Steve Shalaty, our drummer, has been with the band since 2003,…and Ross Dolan (bass/vocals) is an original member as myself. So,..overall, considering we’ve been around a while,..that’s really not too bad! Haha And both Bill and Steve were a pleasure to have in the band as they both learned everything quickly and well executed when each of them joined. So this line up has been steady and strong now for some time and it really defines the band at it’s best ever,..having four solid, determined players into the music and performances 100%.

How does Majesty and Decay compare to your previous releases, and did you ever think you’d make it up to 8 albums?
All those years ago it seemed impossible to think of such a thing. But 20 years, 8 albums, 1 ep, 2 DVD’s and 70 something songs later we did it! Haha You never think you will get this far when you start out. But now that we are here,…even more unbelievable is that we are at our best ability, our most determined, our most creative and are more ambitious than ever!!
Majesty and Decay definitely fits perfectly in our discography, and yet exceeds it considerably. This record has the best production in our entire career, and is probably the darkest and most intense group of songs we have ever put together. It is our heaviest and creates an extremely bleak atmosphere. This is truly IMMOLATION in its most top form for sure!!

Is there any story or concept behind the CD title Majesty and Decay?
Overall Majesty and Decay looks at mankind’s obsession with power and opulence and how the abuse of that power leads to our society’s decay and eventual destruction. The album looks at everything from the darker periods in our recent history, to war and all the turmoil, death and atrocities it creates; to the personal side of conflict, it’s process and it’s results. We look at religion, both from the fanatical point of view as well as the institutions of all kinds and how they neglect their followers,…to how even through science and education the masses still live somewhat in the dark ages today mentally. We question man’s existence on this world and how the planet would be better off without us. It’s a pretty bleak themed record for sure!

Paul Orofino has produced a good deal of your albums – it’s almost like he’s a member of Immolation himself. What does he contribute to the overall recording process and what is it about Paul that makes you want to work with him time and again?
Paul’s a great guy and great producer. Her knows music and has a great ear for it. We love Millbrook Sound Studios as it’s a very comfortable working environment. We can get away from it all over there and concentrate on the music. Paul is a great person who is like part of the family for sure! He has been in this music business for a long time, and has lots of experience and tons of great stories and history for us every time we go up there.
The studio is great and Paul also has an in-studio, complete bar, with awesome Belgian beers on tap for us! So its always great to finish some of the sessions and just hang out, listen to music and talk to Paul about all his , as well as our cool experiences.
On Majesty and Decay, however, we decided it was time to try something a bit new. We decided to have Zack Ohren mix and master the album, bringing in a more modern approach to the production. We needed to have more of a powerful and tight and clear sound,..something with more punch and clarity. And Zack really nailed it!! Zack did an amazing job in bringing our sound up to the next level! The album is heavy and dark with atmosphere, but clear and distinct to where you can hear everything very well,..especially the drums. It’s a very strong production and probably the best of our career!!

Where did you get the ideas for some of the lyrics this time around. Please cite two songs and what the lyrics are inspired by.
The record looks at war (A Thunderous Consequence), and the atrocities its brings (The Rapture of Ghosts),…fanaticism (Divine Code),..how we are destroying the world and sucking it dry of all it’s worth (The Purge), …regimes and megalomania gone to insane levels of death and destruction (Majesty and Decay).
For example, The Rapture of Ghosts is about the death marches in wartime where thousands of POW’s and civilians were marched to detainment camps hundreds of miles away. Along the way they would be tortured, beaten, raped, deprived of food and water,…they were literally marching to their graves. It was a pretty hopeless situation.
We like dealing with what we see in the world and what’s wrong with it.
Power and Shame looks at how the church, or religion itself of any kind, puts itself before the people. How it is more concerned with preserving itself, making money for itself, gaining power for itself, with no concern for its followers. When the followers need its religious structures to help, they are never there, they use the people. Like during WWII, when the atrocities were going on,…the church would turn its back on them to make sure they stayed intact, otherwise they would see their own destruction.
So in the lyrics we look at a lot of different aspects of the worst of mankind.

When you look back on your earlier work such as Dawn Of Possession and Here In After, what do you think of them now?
I think they were great records and still hold their own today. They both, as all our records, have their own unique feel and vibe. That being said, I do feel that as classic as those records are in the scene, I prefer what we are doing now in the sense that it’s just more aggressive and more intense,…more interesting, more refined. We have learned to really craft our writing and make it better and better as we go. Those two records were our stepping stone though to work our way up to where we are now,..so they are definitely special to us. We still play tracks from those records live and they fit in perfectly along with what we are doing now in our sets!

How long have you been playing guitar and where did you develop your unique style?
I’ve been playing for about 25/26 years now. I only took a handful of lessons in the beginning and just did my own thing from then on. I would just learn songs and try to recreate the music, solos, etc. Teaching myself as I went. Once I started writing my own music, it just developed over time. Even with the solos,..I never use many scales or modes, etc,..i just write the solo as if I am writing a riff or a part of the song.
To me the music is about feeling and emotion,…so that’s what I aim for when writing songs. I have something in mind and figure out how to make it happen as I go. I don’t limit myself to anything,..if it sounds right and has the right feel that’s all I am concerned with.

Is touring still exciting for you now as it used to be when you first started?
Yes,..its great! Especially when we are over in other countries, etc. There is always so much to see , different cultures,..and a lot of similarities. It’s all very interesting! We love it. Getting out there and playing live is what its all about! All the feeling and emotion in the music takes shape in the live situation and the reaction with the crowd. It’s all a great experience. And when it all locks together it’s a great feeling!
We’ve made a lot of great friends all over the world touring, it’s a priceless experience and one that we will always continue to be excited about!

What do you think of the current death metal scene in your hometown of Yonkers and surrounding areas?
There isn’t too much of a scene directly in Yonkers,..but we do have some good bands like Malignancy and Mortician. New York in general is great as there is a lot going on all the time in the music scene,…mostly taking pace down in NY City,…but it’s close to us and New Jersey too, a lot over there as well. All the tours come through here; so I can say overall NY is a good place for metal!!

What are some of your favorite guitars and why do you recommend them?
I play Jackson. I love the feel of the neck on those. Its very well spaced for my hands on the fretboard and they have a nice specific feel that is very easy to play. I’ve been using my Jackson RR24’s on this past tour and they held up extremely well! Never go out of tune, never break a string. They are road warriors for sure!!! You can always depend on a Jackson to come through for you!

What advice would you give a death metal band just starting out and looking to tour?
Go to college!!! Become a lawyer or doctor!! Haha Seriously, you have to be dedicated. It’s not easy, and you don’t make millions. Its about a passion for the music. It is a lifestyle, it is our lives. This is a major part of our lives and it would be hard to think of our lives without it!
So you really have to make that commitment and be into it 100%. You have to work hard in creating good music as best you can,….but you have to please yourself first! You have to like what you are playing , and believe in it , otherwise there is no point in doing it! Then after that it’s A LOT of hard work and persistence and drive!! You have to be dedicated!!!
And you can’t expect to go on tour and start making all this money. We’ve been doing this for over 20 years,..and we are just starting to get to a good point now where we are not losing our asses on the road! Hahaha So you definitely need a lot of patience!!

Any plans for more touring in support of the new album, especially here in the US?
Well we just finished up a nice tour of the US with Nile and Krisiun, which was great! Now we are working on more stuff for the rest of the year. So if all goes as planned you can expect to see us out there in the States a couple more times this year! Keep posted to our Myspace for details!!

Are you involved with any other bands of music projects outside of Immolation?
No, IMMOLATION takes up all my musical efforts now. The rest of the time I am working my day job! So any music I am doing is going straight to Immo!!!

Do you have any messages for Immolation fans here in the Los Angeles area?
We thank them for all their great support! We had an amazing show at The House of Blues back in the beginning of Feb there and the fans were great! We hope to see you all very soon! Visit us at www.myspace.com/immolation

(Interview by Kenneth Morton)

Immolation on Myspace