Back in 2009 I was still a fresh face to BDM and still had much to shock me. Now nothing surprises me now, miserable I know. However, it’s true, you kind of get to a point where brutality and shock can go no further. That is when one diversifies, much like our subjects for today Incinerate. Many bands have gone over to a more ethereal blend of Death Metal in recent years, taking on Sci-fi or Fantasy themes to create new and interesting blend of Death Metal now that hideous murders have been done to death (pun intended).
Incinerate formed way back in 1998 and have become a bit of an unsung gem of the BDM world. Their 2008 Anatomize album through the incredible Brutal Bands is one that was very much at its peak during my first indulgence of the genre. Savage, fast and vile it ticked all the boxes. Yet now the band seek new fortunes in Tech which have been teased since 2015’s Eradicating Terrestrial Species album. What can this US force give us now though? Well they bring us their fourth full length Sacrilegivm through Comatose Music, here’s how it plays out.
The album kicks in pretty fast with Lux In Tenebris, fast, aggressive and pretty traditional Brutal Death that softly tickles the notion of Tech. The vocals are a real hit especially so when they become super guttural. Trumpets Of War plays out a bit more standard Brutal Death, it’s a little bit more hook laden at least but none the less slightly generic. There are however notes of Tech here and there. The songwriting remains consistent yet average through Thrown To The Fire and Holy Irreverence and still something lacks, it’s by this point in which I can see a few holes in the formula and beg for a bit more on the Tech side.
Fleeting Opulence gives us that Tech flair and plenty of memorability, a real stand out for the album it must be said. The vocals take a deeper dive for Inexorable and I totally dig it, much like its predecessor this song ups the game of this album with some interesting and different instrumentation. Could this be the turning point for the album? It would seem so, Absence Of Divine Powers gives us more Tech and even some pretty hefty Slam influence. Certainly, this second half is the real powerhouse. It seems rather odd that all the good tracks are at the end, it’s almost like two different bands! The album comes to a close with A Lamentation To The Fallen, a light airy instrumental that is really quite out of place save for its guitar work, that said it would be better used as an intro or interlude.
There is much at fault in Sacrilegivm which is a great shame as the calibre of the music in the later half is so good. I think the key to sorting this album out is structure, much of it is clumped together in sections that sound similar and that just doesn’t work for me. There should be a mixture of more standard BDM and Tech ideas rather than clods of these notions stuck together. Excellent music and for sure some of the best that Incinerate have produced, yet as a full album experience it falls a bit flat, a great shame.
(7/10 George Caley)
Leave a Reply