Incantation - Dirges of Elysium (2014)

Godless, primal death metal mavens are having a veritable feast of late, with new records from bands like Teitanblood, Autopsy and Dead Congregation; yet I find myself drawn slightly more strongly towards the latest offering from another scene veteran, John McEntee and his fellow lords of gloom, Incantation. Coming off Vanquished in Vengeance in 2012, an incredibly strong re-affirmation record which saw the Pennsylvanians ramp up their production values and songwriting to a marginally more accessible tier, without losing any of what made them so important back in the 90s (even if fans at the time wouldn't know it yet). Enter Dirges of Elysium, a new effort which adheres to the same potent level of sound and variation, only venturing slightly further into the death/doom well which they've always inhabited, and I cannot say I'm disappointed in the least...this is one effective, oppressive, spiritually cumbersome beast which compensates for a lack of innovation with really well-written songs, and largely winning riffs.

That's right, there isn't necessarily a single damned thing on Dirges that you've not encountered before, from either this band, Autopsy or others of their ilk, yet Incantation pull it off remarkably, as if the whole medium were fresh and had just been invented yesterday. Not every individual riffing thread is victorious, perhaps, but the slower tremolo picked sequences feel morbid and cavernous, the downtrodden harmonies enough to churn the clouds and grey the sky, and both the leads and rhythm guitars covering a broader scope of tempos than much of the band's backlog. If this were some brand new head on the chopping block, it might feel entirely too derivative of McEntee's legacy, and yet this is the fucking genuine article, an ablution of sickness, suffering and depravity which takes its sweet time crushing your head. In fact, paired up with its predecessor Vanquished in Vengeance, I'm going to have to say that this has been my favorite epoch of the band since the first two records. They just have that much more of an impact on me as I'm listening...not the most memorable works in their field by a very long shot, but prime examples of seasoned mortuary-craft which possess a metric ton of replay value. Dirges is slower, sure, and that's not always my thing, but I was rarely bored here (perhaps in 1-2 songs top). Incantation continues to spew the gene-seed that still runs in the veins of so many of their followers...

McEntee's vocals remain a selling and life-quelling point, rumbling like boulders being shifted about the Underworld to participate in Sisyphean tortures, fully evocative of the darkness beneath that this band has always called home. Rhythm guitars retain that robust flesh, alternately murky and dextrous despite the largely simplistic chord and note progressions the band champions. Bass lines are fitful, creepy and adventurous. Drums: clear but crash-tested. Nothing technical anywhere, but where Incantation succeed and so many others fail is in how perfectly level they can measure off atmosphere against finesse, opacity against clarity, the static and the kinetic, the dying and the fucking dead. I'm not saying these are the sorts of riffs to die for that we'll be recounting for the next 20 years, like the ones we first dug up 20 years ago through the most seminal of works, but this is just a very dependable, believable form of escapism into the subterranean haze. The intro is good, the faster riffs sound evil, and even the more bloated compositions manage not to induce the 'snooze setting' because they feel epic rather than meandering or directionless.

Oh, the grandeur of the gruesome! Dirges of Elysium beats with the same rotten heart that started pumping a quarter century past, and yet the ichor-choked arteries seem to have undergone some refinement. Friendlier, maybe, but in the way it's more congenial to be eaten alive directly than to be toyed with over a long, bloody hunt.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

http://incantation.com/

Incantation - Vanquish in Vengeance (2012)

Incantation was a band that hit me early on, and hit me HARD early on, with a pair of albums so abysmally dark, dank, nihilist and unfriendly that they really challenged my perception of the possibilities in a budding genre that I had previously still held pretty closely to the tenets of thrash and speed based songwriting. The monstrous, outrageous guttural vocals were the sickest I'd heard since Van Drunen or Tardy. The emphasis on churning, subterranean atmosphere over the 'catchy' evil riffs inherent to many of the Floridian, Dutch or Swedish exports was a novelty I hadn't considered (one that has since been beaten to death by various waves of followers), but despite this fact, Onward to Golgotha and Mortal Throne of Nazarene remained quite distinct. My reactions to the later Incantation work in the 90s and beyond were lukewarm at best (Decimate Christendom being the disc I enjoyed most of these), because even though they've never released a 'bad' full-length (outside of the wasteful Upon the Throne of Apocalypse), for some reason I felt like they had lost some of that crushing primacy that translated into nuance during their formative years of existence.

So I'm pretty confident in claiming that Vanquish in Vengeance is the best album I've heard from the band in 18 years, but this boast comes with a caveat: it's not necessarily the same, murky, ominous Incantation that so many have foisted upon the pedestal of (un)godliness. Thanks largely to the production, this is a far brighter beast than I usually associate with the Pennsylvanians' output, even if the musical blueprint covers most of the same fundamentals. Vanquish in Vengeance is well written, old school death metal, that has, to its great credit, decided against shunning the benefits that come with a louder, more contemporary recording flush with the 21st century. To some degree, this naturally comes with an elevated sense of accessibility, not that you'll be hearing Incantation on the radio or booming out the loudspeakers at the shopping mall, but that its not got the ultra-muddied tones to compete with lauded underground juggernauts like Teitanblood or Portal. This is potent, dynamic, riff-centric death metal rooted in the virtues of the 90s, with an enormous sense of proper pacing throughout 52 minutes of occult and supernatural lyrical themes. In terms of the riffing structure, it's certainly not a far cry from many of the records they've released in the interim of their gory, glory days with Relapse, but a lot of the note progressions here really gelled with me.

Guitars have a firm, raw fiber to them that holds up through whatever tempo and configuration they choose, whether that be a lumbering, vile death/doom groove as in "The Hellions Genesis" and "Transcend the Absolute Dissolution", or the grainier, accelerated patterns that feel like someone tilling the soil in a moist, fog-shrouded cemetery with a gut-spattered iron rake. Harmonies are morbid, beefy and atonal, and leads sporadic and quivering like psychedelic banshees in conversation through the the deepening night. In contrast to what a lot of death metal bands select for their bass tones, these lines are pretty clean sounding (like the intro to "Profound Loathing"), and though the instrument is always playing second fiddle to McEntee and (newish guitarist) Alex Bouks, I like the dichotomy of solemn swells against the ghoulish grit of the guitars. Kyle Severn returns once again to the fold with a lurid and effective set of skills, and though Incantation are not necessarily known for unabated percussive intensity, he packs in some tight fills with effortless double bass and blasting techniques whenever called for. That said, I did feel like the drums, in addition to the bass, were often outweighed by the rhythm guitars.

Vanquish in Vengeance is the third full-length on which John McEntee performs the vocals, and even if he might not have that same, dreadful character that defined Craig Pillard in the early years, he's come unto his own with his sodden, opaque, mortuary growls, which I'd say hold up rather well up against either Disma's Towards the Megalith or Autopsy's Macabre Eternal, both of which this record altogether exceeds by my humble estimations. Again, the variation here is excellent, from the surging blood storm of intro "Invoked Infinity" to the wailing and wrenching crawl of the nearly 12 minute finale "Legion of Dis", there's never a point at which I felt like the quartet was fucking off and repeating itself needlessly. Apart from the fat, necrotic mass of its natural resonance, there was no cellulose here to be trimmed, and the lengthier numbers were imbued with enough mournful atmosphere that they really filled out their bulk. In a year already strong and saturated with classic death metal sounds from artists both new and old, Incantation has risen once more unto relevance, and even if it's not a perfectly memorable outing 100% of the time, this is bad ass enough to survive a large swath of re-listens. Impressive!

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

http://www.incantation.com/

Nepente - Suffering is the Seed (2012)

Colombia is a place I can only assume to possess some level of day to day oppression, that is, if the music I've encountered from the country is any indicator of its level of unrest. Brutal/death metal seems to be the primary flavor there, and on their sophomore effort, Suffering is the Seed, Nepente do not intend to challenge that perception, as this is a fairly straight burst of churning, nihilistic extremity that eschews all the principles of nuance and subtlety to bulldoze its audience from front to back. I had read that the band was a hybrid of death and black metal aesthetics, but what I'm hearing on this disc is far more in favor of the former camp. A few passages, like the intro to "Hear Me Howl" or "Die for Me", give the impression of tremolo/blast black metal (a little like Endstille in tone), and there are some rasped lyric lines, but the bombastic guttural vox and majority of riff structures have a truly South America death flavor.

My favorite component to the record was the guitar tone, which is fiery and rich without seeming inauthentic or unnecessarily processed, and it provides a real muscular crunch over the storm-like drumming that is constantly providing a cluttered momentum. The riffs definitely have a Morbid Angel feel to them, caustic and explosive and inherently apocalyptic due to their lack of warmth or brighter melodies, but I also found some notable similarities to other South American acts like Krisiun, Abhorrence, Nephasth and Mental Horror thanks to the ferocious structuring. The drums are insanely busy, with a lot of the fills popping through the headphones but a nice, exhilarated hellishness to the blast beats. Bass is potent, pummeling, and thick, though occasionally I had to strain a little to really appreciate what was happening there. As for the vocals, the rasps (where they appear) are your somewhat forgettable, average black metal ravings, but the primary growling is massive, forceful, and strafes alongside the guitars to provide one of the more dominant elements on the album. Gutturals with similarities to Steve Tucker, Erik Rutan, Alex Camargo or the various Nile frontmen add a layer of unforgiving opacity to the mood of the busier music.

Where I lost a little interest was in the actual riffing constructions, which just aren't all that compelling, even though they provide a variety of blasted tremolo riffs, melodic-oriented death circa Swedish bands like Dissection or Sacramentum, and harder hitting, muted frenzies. Throughout, there's this sense of a molten flow full of burnt out angel wings and halos, but it's running out to sea where it gets diluted by the lack of standout songs. If they could take this same sense of production and apply stronger songwriting, Nepente would probably make some ripples, but all too rarely did I derive a sense of excitement or catchiness from the individual patterns, and it was often somewhat of a chore to stay attentive. That said, there's nothing particularly bad or incompetent about Suffering is the Seed, and the band does a decent job of inserting a broad enough spectrum of aggression that I wouldn't deign the music monotonous by any stretch of the imagination. They've done their homework, and they can play. Might be worth checking out if you're into Malevolent Creation, Krisiun, Morbid Angel or Kataklysm, or Polish bands like Hate or Behemoth, but even then I just didn't get a lasting impression.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

http://www.myspace.com/nepente

Incantation - Upon the Throne of Apocalypse (1995)

Imagine you were to go to your nearest Hearse dealer and take a shiny new funereal ride out for a test drive. Now, imagine going back to that same lot a year later after hours, blow-torching that same vehicle and then taking it out for a joyride...using only the reverse gear. Not one of my most overt analogies, but it pretty much sums up Upon the Throne of Apocalypse, an alternate recording of Incantation's crushing sophomore Mortal Throne of Nazarene which was released but a year after the first. Apparently the band and the label had some disagreement over the audio quality of the studio album, and went back to the well to create something more supposedly ominous and issue it through a limited edition.

Understandably, there are two camps regarding this record. The first believes in and justifies its existence, claiming they prefer the deeper, bass-heavier tone of the re-release, and that it better suits the band's cavernous aesthetic. The other had no problem with Mortal Throne of Nazarene as it was, and considers this a bit of a ripoff. To be fair, Relapse put out only like 1000 copies of this CD, so it wasn't meant to be some widespread scam, simply a means to make themselves happier, presumably the band and also a chunk of the fan base. Had this been the 21st century, Incantation might have released this themselves through a website for a few bucks, perhaps iTunes or a 'Pay As You Will' scenario for the fans. Or maybe released it with a remastered or re-issue of Mortal Throne of Nazarene, or as part of a fan package with a bunch of their demos and other materials. But this was 1995, and the timing of its manifestation was slightly suspect. After all, this was a pretty underground band even in its heyday, so who really cared? I guess a thousand or so people...

Now, I happen to love Mortal Throne of Nazarene for all its benefits and flaws, so I fall into the latter reaction. Not because of some implied, sinister machinations of the rough mix's presence, but because I rather appreciate the contrast in tones found on that incarnation. Upon the Throne is deeper and perhaps darker, but only in the most obvious stripping of the mix. I can understand why it would feel more streamlined to the dank and desolate, crushing weight of the band's material, and certainly the majority of the Incantation worship bands existing today go for this approach, but it lacks the dynamic disconnect between Craig Pillard's enormous guttural resonance and the higher pitched grinding tumult of the guitars, a subterranean approximation of Bolt Thrower's bludgeoning with a more versatile exploration of tempo. Thus, in exchange for making the music a bit 'darker', the overwhelming shock of the vocals (their most potent and distinct characteristic) is lost a little on the 1995 version, and some of the bright curvature of the guitar grooves is also dimmed.

There's also the notion I've heard that the Mortal Throne mix is too 'clean', but that's nonsense. It is not tidy in the slightest, but septic and pummeling in line with many of the more intense, extreme death and grind acts of the early through mid 90s. The track list is precisely the same on both releases, just presented in reverse, which was a lot bigger deal at the time than it is now with the age of mp3 players and barely anyone listening to albums in order (critics and purists being the exception). However, I must say that I preferred the album's initiation to tear my skin off with "Demonic Incarnate", rather than the trudging brute that is the 8+ minute "Abolishment of Immaculate Serenity" opening the ceremony. I felt that epic was better suited to the depths of the disc as a grand finale, so I simply do not see the advantage to having it the other way. I also preferred having the extra leads on the album.

Upon the Throne of Apocalypse is pretty much a waste of space, even if I can discern why some listeners would prefer this more earthen, dreary copulation of tones. It's more consistent, but at the same time less interesting because the striking disparity of its brazen brutality is muted. Being a limited edition, there is an obvious appeal for collectors, but I feel like the material itself was best presented through Mortal Throne of Nazarene, which joins the debut Onward to Golgotha as a timeless US classic of boundary forcing, grotesque obscenity. Even the cover art choice here is not so appealing. It wasn't broken, it didn't need fixing, and I can only imagine the turbulence that would ensue if Relapse had green lit the same treatment for a dozen other classics, but then, this is a label known for shaky relations with their artists. (John McEntee himself had friction with them for some years).

Verdict: Fail [3.5/10] (a salacious burden into utter paradise)

http://www.incantation.com/