There are few acts with a discography as consistent as this pioneering US death metal band. Pick any release throughout the bands near 35 year history and you’ll listen to some of the finest death metal the genre has to offer and this 13th album is no different. Having seen the band at last year’s Damnation Festival in Manchester the band is as devastating now as they’ve always been. Their latest effort pretty much sums up the battering ferocious intent they have always had on each and every single one of their albums.

However, there is something much darker lurking within this album, an insidious hostility that permeates through every song whether rocketing along at a blistering pace or slithering around on its belly via doom-death density. Another curious aspect to this release is the suffixed Roman numerals at the end of each title, and as we know Incantation has always delved into the darker side of lyrical matter, but I did wonder whether the release was constructed in such a way as to produce a different listening experience based on what order you chose to listen to the tracks. If this is the case then there are plenty of options, Roman numerical order is the obvious one of course, but then you could do the odd numbers followed by the even ones as though listening to two sides of a vinyl, or you could do the prime numbers followed by non-primes, or again vice versa. I’m sure you get the idea as any suggestion you use or decide upon yourself will adjust the flow and impact of the songs as you listen to them.

For review purposes I’m sticking to the track order according to the way the promo was received as the opening track here is ‘Offerings (The Swarm) IV’. Its opening dark penetrating riff is typical of Incantations inhuman thuggery, where the vocals have that cavernous monstrous quality on every track. The bombarding density is something Incantation has always deployed, indeed they more or less forged it decades ago as the opener’s sinister and menacing styling has that trademark mauling oppression. Following it is ‘Concordat (The Pact) I’ a track that also was promotional video that matches its doom-death ethos with sepia imagery. The songs slower approach affords it that old stench riddled doom-death stance of the 90s, where the fluid bass work and drums smoothly coalesce with the guitar before the track steps on the accelerator.

Blasting in is ‘Chalice (Vessel Consanguineous) III’ where the riffing harks back to a thrash style that gives the tune venom and virulence equally. Returning to much slower realms is ‘Homunculus (Spirit Made Flesh) IX’, its dread saturated doomscaping is tremendously oppressive and even adds an atmospheric touch here and there for added mysticism. Shorter but fuelled with brutality is another track that has a promotional video, ‘Invocation (Chthonic Merge) X’, with similar imagery to the other one as the tunes much faster and aggressive slant sees the track unleash cataclysmic double kick rolls alongside some excellent riff changes that hook you in.

Offering a riff that is gruesomely heavy is ‘Convulse (Words Of Power) III’, its sloth like pacing typifies how utterly crushing Incantation are and always will be. There are speed surges of course in the track but they are measured for maximum impact and destructive power as another slow number titled ‘Altar (Unify In Carnage) V’ follows it. It almost listens like a bridging piece to the next song ‘Exile (Defy The False) II’ because it has a lingering atmospheric, an almost ambient dissonance but in actuality is a very slow writhing piece of music before the uplift on ‘Exile’ occurs. The tune has some fine guitar work here, like all the tracks, and in some respects is the catchiest tune on the album, especially when the riff break and percussive smashes burst through. Closing the album is ‘Circle (Eye Of Ascension )VII’ a slightly longer song that personifies doom-death with a grisly isolated riff that possesses an aura of ominousness that builds sequentially for about half of the song, before a smooth transition to double bass increases the power alongside a demonic vocal style that is potentially a guest appearance as the album does have three guests on it, namely Jeff Beccera (Possessed), Henry Veggian (ex-Revenant) and Dan Vadim Von (Morbid Angel).

Completing the album is of course the stunning artwork by long-time collaborator Eliran Kantor whose nightmarish work sums up visually what this album is all about. Another stunning album from Incantation.

(9/10 Martin Harris)

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