INCANTATION - Dirges Of Elysium
July 9, 2014, 10 years ago
(Listenable Records)
While death metal legends Incantation aren't doing anything wildly different on Dirges Of Elysium, their tenth full-length, they sit loud and proud near the top of the ratings scale because they do what they do with such amazing and overwhelming authority, and as the years go on this kind of raw, atmospheric, truly intense death metal is needed more and more in the face of more sterile sounds in the extreme realm. So, check it out: the last minute and a half of 'From A Glaciate Womb' and all of huge closer 'Elysium (Eternity Is Nigh)' annihilates like few other death metal bands do and provides a sonic explanation as to why this deserves no less than 9 out of 10. Incantation are one of those rare death metal bands who I didn't love as a younger man but the older I get the more I realize they are crafting sounds of extremity that are approaching perfection, and this album is an extremely solid example of that.
