Hammerheart have done a great job re-issuing the early back catalogue of Danish technical Thrash metal band Invocator.
The band’s debut Excursion Demise was originally released in 1991. I always found this release to be at the tipping point of sub-genre definition, especially around the release period. Is it Thrash? Is it Death? Perhaps the career of the actual band “Death” made such decisions for me, more so with the vocal style than directly with the music. However, categorisation aside, this album is killer. It is raw; it is energetic and exhumes technical precision in both the guitar work and the song arrangements. Particular favourites for me include ‘Absurd Temptation’ (beginning doomy as hell), ‘Schismatic Injective Therapy’ (vibrant technical riffing) and ‘Beyond Insufferable Dormancy’ (crushing heaviness with increasing speed, any early Slayer or Dark Angel fan will rejoice). All of which have immediate possession to the listener, the style, the bite and the heaviness that comes across. I would say, since I received this release for review, it has been on non-stop rotation, the whole album has some great music. Invocator are one of those bands that perhaps got away, but I assure you, get this, it’s a great album, always was and still remains true in the current day.
This 2CD set includes the ‘Genetic Confusion’ and ‘Alterations’ demos. There is also one re-recording of ‘Insurrected Despair’ and a 1991 promo release containing three further tracks. As a package of early material, I find this essential for any lovers of such deadly stylistic guitar technicality (9/10).
The band’s second release Weave The Apocalypse refined the rawness of the debut album and continued to challenge boundaries. This is immediately apparent on the opener ‘Through the Nether to the Sun’. There is more of a progressive Thrash focus from the start, the complex timing arrangements perk up your ears and encourage fanatic admiration. The production has been polished compared to the debut, admittedly, I was not aware of this album upon its release, so for me now writing this, the development is still admirable from a band that had a gem of a debut release. If I was to look back now, there is a change comparable to that of say Forbidden after their first couple of albums. Today, I feel Invocation made the transition with a lot more ease, less shocking I guess! As you stare at the cover art, the mind expands and so does the music. I still think there are comparisons to the career of bands Pestilence and Chris Poland’s ‘Return to Metalopolis’ album, but Invocator have and has a quality that makes you wonder why the hell doesn’t everyone talk about this band in the same breath of some of the bigger bands, some of which I have mentioned earlier. You have to remember, the early nineties was the start of a transition period for Thrash, Invocator I think should be thought of as being part of that movement, even if their debut had more direct comparable qualities than other bands I may have mentioned earlier.
Going further into the music ‘From My Skull It Rains’ highlight the vocal changes that occurred between releases, perhaps like a typical (of the time) British Thrash band, e.g. Xentrix. There’s some new techniques explored for this band, e.g. sweep picking, spoken world sections and use if guitar melodies backed by a more up front drum recording. More a more straight go for the throat ‘Desert Sands’ and ‘Breed of Sin’ both provides this. This also highlights the difference in the band from 1993 to what was in 1991, but I think this comes from the production more. That youthful grit of their debut had grown up and expanded fretboard technicality.
‘Weave the Apocalypse’ takes elements of the death metal scene (for me) along for the ride in the album title track. Clever transitions make a statement and when you think that this was about a year ahead of its time back in the nineties compared to the bigger more well-known releases, for example, Testament…but for me, the vocals completely changed this band, some good, some bad in my opinion. Musically, there was definite progression and stylist mastery.
Overall, I always preferred the debut, perhaps for its rawness, but that said. ‘Weave the Apocalypse’ is an essential release to own (8/10).
(Paul Maddison)
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