ROSS DOLAN

IMMOLATION

Ross Dolan is one of the founders of American New York- based death metal act IMMOLATION. Famous for his extremely powerful vocal parts and bushy long hair. "It was hard picking ten albums out of so many classics- he claims-, "But I just picked albums that I really loved at the time, and still listen to today. These albums to me all stood out amongst all the rest and they all were an inspiration in some way to me and the other guys in the band as well..."

I. IRON MAIDEN “Piece Of Mind”
Iron Maiden was always a classic band for me, and one of those bands that I never lost that admiration for. I had seen them numerous times on the “Powerslave”, “Somewhere in Time” and “Seventh Son” tours, including a club show at L’Amours in Brooklyn when they played under the name “Charlotte and the Harlots” back in the 80’s. They always impressed me as a live band and as musicians, and actually picking one album out of their first 7 (because I don’t own anything after “Seventh Son”) was really hard. Each one of those albums, not to mention the tons of B side tracks off of all their many singles, was a classic to me. I would listen to them over and over, memorizing lyrics and solos, etc. “Piece of Mind” was probably one of my favorites! From the opening drum piece that starts off “Where Eagles Dare” right on through to the album’s closer, “To Tame a Land”, the album just does not let up and is truly a Metal Masterpiece in my eyes. It has so much heaviness for that time mixed so well with melody, with a great sound, that certainly left an impression on me for years to come. And as a bass player, I have to say that Steve Harris is responsible for getting me into playing the bass. This was one of the coolest things to me about Iron Maiden. Harris really added so many great bass licks that really stood out from everything else that it was hard not to notice what he was doing in each song. I love his style and it was his style of playing that I tried to emulate in my early years of playing bass.

II. JUDAS PRIEST “Defenders of the Faith”
This was another one of those albums that I got as soon as it came out and listened to it over and over like a junky. The production of this album defines what a “Metal” production should sound like. It was heavy, it had balls, and the dueling leads of Tipton and Downing were so memorable and full of feeling that it was hard to stop listening. These two guys along with Murray and Smith of Iron Maiden were my favorite guitarists at the time. I loved “Defenders of the Faith” because it was so heavy and catchy at the same time. Each song became an instant classic to me, and this is an album I still listen to a lot even today. I loved all the earlier Judas Priest albums, and it was cool to see how they evolved from the earlier days to an album like “Defenders…” To me, it was even better than “Screaming for Vengeance”, which was my favorite up until “Defenders…” came out. They just took everything a step further with “Defenders of the Faith” and I think every song deserves mention here, but I think my favorites are “The Sentinel”, “Jawbreaker” and “Freewheel Burning”.

III. MERCYFUL FATE “Melissa”
I think I actually heard this album before the four song E.P., and I was hooked immediately. I never heard anything so dark and twisted with such a unique vocal style. It was a very creepy album, and again, I was totally impressed with the musicianship and songwriting. They were able to capture a certain mood with these songs that I don’t think I had heard up until that point. It was very dark and evil, and this album was certainly an inspiration for me as a musician as well. Timi Hansen was an amazing bass player and another guy that inspired my playing in the beginning. But they were all amazing musicians and knew how to write great songs. “Satan’s Fall” has to be one of my all time favorites, but it is right up there along with “Melissa”, “At The Sound of The Demon Bell”, “Evil” and “Into the Coven”. These were some of the darkest songs, both musically and lyrically I had ever heard at the time, and I became an instant fan of Mercyful Fate and later on all the King Diamond material. Also, I think it had the sickest album cover ever!!!!

IV. MERCYFUL FATE “Don’t Break the Oath”
I really had to include this on my list because it was an instant favorite for me when it came out. I remember seeing that album cover and realizing it was a new Mercyful Fate album and I had to own it right away. I couldn’t believe how great an album this was. I liked it as much as “Melissa” but it was different in a lot of ways as well. I really liked how King Diamond started really doing more with his vocals on this one, which was a sign of things to come when “Fatal Portrait” came out a few years later. “Don’t Break the Oath” had such a phenomenal production that really gave the songs life and allowed for all those twisted and evil feelings to come right out at you; it was a masterpiece to me. And again, I loved the lyrics as well, and thought the whole album was as dark and creepy as “Melissa” was. The guitar sound on this album will always be a favorite of mine; it was so crisp and edgy at the same time, very cool and perfect for what they were doing at the time. I think one of my all time favorite parts of any song was the insane ending of “Night of the Unborn”. It was just pure brilliance the way the leads just traded off and built up to the end of the song, there is just no words! Such great dynamics in all of these songs and they are all favorites to me even today!

V. VENOM “Welcome To Hell”
Venom was another one of those bands that I was obsessed with in the early to mid-1980’s. I owned everything they released and was lucky enough to have seen them in 1986 for the “At War With Satan” tour along with Carnivore and Overkill. It was one of my all time favorite shows and was certainly an event for every metal head at the time. They were raw and heavy and I loved the image. Venom had such a different approach than some of the other stuff I was listening to at the time, it was a more basic and primal approach, but that’s what made them great, the aggressiveness and the raw heaviness. They had so much great stuff and so many great songs from “Bloodlust” to “Warhead” to “Don’t Burn the Witch”, but the “Welcome to Hell” album was just so raw and dark that it was the one that became my favorite. “Witching Hour” was one of my all time favorites along with “In League with Satan”, “Sons of Satan” and of course, the title track. They are all classics and I always go back and revisit the Venom collection when I want a reminder of how great those early days were for metal!

VI. METALLICA “Ride The Lightning”
Wow, I remember the day I got this I raced home and put it on and listened to it through my headphones and was totally blown away. I had never heard anything so raw and aggressive up to that point, and it was at that point that I really started to seek out heavier and heavier stuff. From the intro into “Fight Fire With Fire” and then into “Ride the Lightning”, that was it, it didn’t take more than that. The heaviness, speed, aggression and feeling that this album had was mind blowing at the time. It was an underground classic when it came out, and it was the start of their rise in popularity. This album had such an underground and raw quality about it when it came out, and that was something I always looked for when searching for new music back in those days.

VII. SLAYER “Hell Awaits”
The first song I think I heard from Slayer was “Chemical Warfare” off the Haunting the Chapel E.P. I was immediately a long time fan and picked up the Show No Mercy album and the E.P., but it Hell Awaits that became my instant favorite once I heard it for the first time. This album had it all for me, the speed, the heaviness and the really warped feeling you got with some of the songs (“At Dawn They Sleep” would be a perfect example of this). But every song on this album was unique and a classic in its own way, and this is still an album that I listen to a lot even now. It was truly a monumental album at the time and Slayer had the respect of everyone who was into extreme Metal in the mid-80’s.

VIII. BLACK SABBATH ”Master of Reality”
I think anyone who is into any type of Heavy Metal has to have an appreciation for Black Sabbath. They were such a classic band, and I loved all their stuff. Since they have such an extensive catalog of all killer stuff, I had to pick two albums, one representing the Ozzy era and one the Dio era. I loved all the albums Ozzy sang on, and I loved how the band evolved and matured with every album, but still kept that heavy as hell sound that I loved since the beginning years. I was hard to pick from the first few albums, but I think for me, Master of Reality is the heaviest and most somber sounding Sabbath album ever. Every song on this album is a classic, and this album always makes an appearance on road trips and tours. It’s crazy to think this album was released in 1971.

IX. BLACK SABBATH ”Mob Rules”
Another favorite of mine, this album is another one of those classics that always makes an appearance on road trips. You can really see the two totally different sides of Black Sabbath if you listen to these two albums back to back. They are both heavy and somber in a lot of ways, but Mob Rules shows a more progressive side I think to their style as opposed to the classic straight forward heavy approach. “The Sign of the Southern Cross” is one of my favorite songs off of this album, but the title track, “Voodoo” , “E5150” (the best on headphones), and “Turn up the night” are all a close second. Dio has a tremendous voice as always and I thought he fit right in to the newer Sabbath style.

X. POSSESSED “Seven Churches”
This album was not only an instant classic when it came out, but it really was, in my opinion, the first “Death Metal” record to come out at that time. It was an inspiring album to me as a musician and fan of extreme metal (which was slowly getting more extreme with each new year and each new band). I remember when this album came out, these guys were compared with Slayer a lot of the time in the press, but I always totally disagreed with this opinion. They were nothing like Slayer musically except that they were as intense as Slayer just in a different way. These guys blew me away with the rawness, heaviness, amazing solos and sick vocals that made them so unique at the time. I had the opportunity of seeing them twice back in those days, once on the Seven Churches tour which they totally killed and actually allowed Slayer to come up on stage and play a few songs on their gear (this was just before Reign in Blood came out and Slayer were in NY doing some kind of press for the record) which was the dream show for anyone at that time, and the second time was when they supported Megadeth for the Beyond the Gates album. They were a great live band and it was so great to see them play all their classics. The whole album is a masterpiece and a must for anyone into extreme metal!

CV:
Real Name: Ross Dolan
Born: November 1969
Function: bass, vocal
Associated: IMMOLATION