Incantation
The Infernal Storm
[Relapse]
Incantation. For a long time I associated that unholy monicker with the most crushing and blasphemous death metal exhumed from the American underground since the earliest Morbid Angel, and having thoroughly enjoyed the monumental Tribute To The Goat and Onward To Golgotha, I found Diabolical Conquest to be tedious and disappointing. Clamouring for a return to their Crucifier/Profanatica sonority, I eagerly purchased this release in the dire hope of hearing just that.
This album doesn’t offer me anything remotely along those lines, but yet I am not disappointed in the least. This is infinitely more developed and evolved than their severely primitive early work, but yet every inch as filthy, depraved and repugnant as anything they’ve produced. Instead of drawing the title of the ‘updated Profanatica’, Incantation have really outdone themselves and carved their own names in the subconscious of the extreme metal public, and stand as an individual, vile obelisk in the overpopulated, increasingly stale realm of death metal.
I found that the merits of the “Forsaken Mourning…” mCD and “Diabolical Conquest” were almost entirely found in the doomier approach found in “Shadows of the Ancient Empire” and their flirting with overt doom/death metal on the final track of “Diabolical Conquest”. Perhaps an influence picked up from Craig Pillard and his Disciples Of Mockery output then, these ideas are embraced completely with this record, one that juxtaposes furious blastbeat passages with slow, sludgy breakdown sections and crushing mid-pace parts. Where one might have had difficulty pinpointing Incantation in the past, they’ve truly thrust their collective spiked gauntlet down to develop a highly individualistic sound.
Riffage is typically Incantation, doom-ridden, afflicted with a strange sense of cruel melody, they perpetually hit the listener with wave upon wave of forceful intensity, and coupled with the well-employed and varied double bass rhythms and a brilliant production, it is safe to say that this recording possesses a fair amount of power. The songwriting depth is incredible, songs as underlined before, alternate between blasting sections to brilliant doomy breakdowns with effortless ease. Unlike Diabolical Conquest, songs are uniformly impressive and warrant a second or even third play. In many ways, this is a continuation of prior ideas developed in Diabolical Conquest, but developed, and enhanced even further.
Far from being typical or generic, this is an inspirational return to form for America’s greatest death metal outfit, and I found myself enjoying this material more than anything since “Tribute To The Goat”. Where “Tribute..”’s main credit is its incredible primitivity and simplicity, this record triumphs with its individualistic creativity, and I feel that both records stand as Incantation’s finest output. If you don’t choose to purchase this, you disqualify yourself as a member of the underground community.
[ a fucking 10!]
© 2000 equimanthorn
This album doesn’t offer me anything remotely along those lines, but yet I am not disappointed in the least. This is infinitely more developed and evolved than their severely primitive early work, but yet every inch as filthy, depraved and repugnant as anything they’ve produced. Instead of drawing the title of the ‘updated Profanatica’, Incantation have really outdone themselves and carved their own names in the subconscious of the extreme metal public, and stand as an individual, vile obelisk in the overpopulated, increasingly stale realm of death metal.
I found that the merits of the “Forsaken Mourning…” mCD and “Diabolical Conquest” were almost entirely found in the doomier approach found in “Shadows of the Ancient Empire” and their flirting with overt doom/death metal on the final track of “Diabolical Conquest”. Perhaps an influence picked up from Craig Pillard and his Disciples Of Mockery output then, these ideas are embraced completely with this record, one that juxtaposes furious blastbeat passages with slow, sludgy breakdown sections and crushing mid-pace parts. Where one might have had difficulty pinpointing Incantation in the past, they’ve truly thrust their collective spiked gauntlet down to develop a highly individualistic sound.
Riffage is typically Incantation, doom-ridden, afflicted with a strange sense of cruel melody, they perpetually hit the listener with wave upon wave of forceful intensity, and coupled with the well-employed and varied double bass rhythms and a brilliant production, it is safe to say that this recording possesses a fair amount of power. The songwriting depth is incredible, songs as underlined before, alternate between blasting sections to brilliant doomy breakdowns with effortless ease. Unlike Diabolical Conquest, songs are uniformly impressive and warrant a second or even third play. In many ways, this is a continuation of prior ideas developed in Diabolical Conquest, but developed, and enhanced even further.
Far from being typical or generic, this is an inspirational return to form for America’s greatest death metal outfit, and I found myself enjoying this material more than anything since “Tribute To The Goat”. Where “Tribute..”’s main credit is its incredible primitivity and simplicity, this record triumphs with its individualistic creativity, and I feel that both records stand as Incantation’s finest output. If you don’t choose to purchase this, you disqualify yourself as a member of the underground community.
[ a fucking 10!]
© 2000 equimanthorn