INCANTATION - XXV: 25 Years Of Blasphemy
June 1, 2016, 7 years ago
(Independent)
What a great way to celebrate 25 years in the guttural-DM biz: a limited-edition (1000 only) vinyl release with one side of rare/re-recorded studio cuts, and one side of live material. Incantation are kings at what they do, whether they're blasting through blasphemy or slugging through the sludge, and this proves it. My money's on the studio cuts being the ones to spend some time with here: “Obelisk Reflections” is an unreleased tune from the Dirges Of Elysium sessions, and it does exactly what a great Incantation tune should: energizes and crushes all at once.
The other three tunes are all re-recordings of older tunes that fans will be familiar with, here delivered with the conviction of the current lineup. Over on the live side we get run-throughs of four Incantation songs and apart from the usual embarrassing live death metal banter (polite, though; they seem polite) it's killer stuff, the band doing what they do on stage just as well as they do in a studio (although a bit of muffled, muddy studio production always adds to the Incantation murk 'n' slurble charm). Eight cuts fly past in a heartbeat here, which is nice: leaves you wanting more, which we'll get, in the form of the band's next full-length, unbelievably, their tenth.
