''Kingdom of Conspiracy'' is the ninth studio album by American

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band

Immolation Immolation may refer to: *Death by burning *Self-immolation, the act of burning oneself *Immolation (band), a death metal band from Yonkers, New York *''The Immolation'', a 1977 novel by Goh Poh Seng *''Dance Dance Immolation'', an interactive per ...

. It was released on May 10, 2013 through

Nuclear Blast Records Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

. The album is Immolation's first concept album and was produced by Paul Orofino, who has produced every Immolation album since 1999's '' Failures for Gods''.

Concept

''Kingdom of Conspiracy'' continues to explore political subject matter rather than the anti-religion topics that dominated the band's earlier releases. Ross Dolan said this is the band's first concept album and that it was influenced by

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

's '' Nineteen Eighty-Four''. He described the theme in an interview with Metal Blast: The album artwork, by Pär Olofsson, also elaborated upon the concept. As guitarist Robert Vigna explained, the figures are shackles with their eyes and mouths sewn shut to represent "the chilling of speech and the intentional blinding of the masses." Furthermore, the large structure in the background, which Vigna described as "ominous", symbolized the growth of the

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and the consequent failing of existing

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Reception

''Kingdom of Conspiracy'' received positive reviews from music critics. Writing for About.com, Dave Schalek called the album "essential," praising its "big, baroque songs with atypical, swirling riffs." Denise Falzon of Exclaim wrote that the band "push stheir boundaries with fresh, innovative twists, in order to create albums that build upon their style while remaining distinctly Immolation." At Pitchfork, Hank Shteamer called the band "one of the most rewarding veteran acts in the genre" and said that "like their contemporaries

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and Incantation, Immolation are currently producing some of the strongest material of their career, an expertly calibrated blend of the byzantine and the straightforwardly brutal, simply by following their own muse." The album debuted at number 13 on Billboard's

Heatseekers Albums Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

chart. Immolation's previous album, ''Majesty and Decay'', had debuted at number 29 on the same chart.

Track listing

Personnel

Immolation * Ross Dolan – vocals, bass * Steve Shalaty – drums * Bill Taylor – guitars * Robert Vigna – guitars Production *Zack Ohren – mixing, mastering *Pär Olofsson – cover art *Paul Orofino – producer

References

{{Authority control 2013 albums Immolation (band) albums Nuclear Blast albums Albums with cover art by Pär Olofsson