Encoffination - O’ Hell, Shine in Thy Whited Sepulchres
This is my first time hearing this diabolic duo (that also make up half of the Father Befouled attack) and, while it’s nothing I haven’t heard before, I am undeniably impressed and slightly in awe at the depth of the sub-atomic heaviness emanating from my tortured speakers. The sound of Encoffination’s slow motion crawl can best be described as being slowly fed to a woodchipper in a dungeon completely filled to the ceiling with raw sewage. Imagine Incantation, Loss, and Disma surgically connected mouth-to-anus a la The Human Centipede. The vocals are inhumanly guttural in the style of the three aforementioned bands. It’s like Craig Pillard, if he were force fed toxic waste and shot up with HGH for 666 days. Every once in a while though, the throat of Ghoat (guitar/bass/vocals) collapses under the strain of this over-the-top, gargling-battery-acid style and he sounds momentarily human. It’s important with such a demonically possessed tone that you never let any light shine through. It goes from demented to silly pretty fast when this occurs, but fortunately it doesn’t happen too often. There isn’t much going on here musically aside from the cryptic drone of barbaric heaviness, but that’s almost all this album needs. My only complaints are few and very minor. There’s a gay laugh on “Rites of Ceremonial Embalm’ment.” Gay laughter in Metal is something I’d like to see done away with once and for all. It especially doesn’t feel right on an album this bleak and sinister. There’s some spoken word on “Ritual Until Blood” I don’t care for, and these guys are also madly in love with sampling the sound of old-vinyl-record hiss. I get it… but I don’t get it. It’s overdone on this album and overdone in general. Besides, the ancient feeling here is alive, well, and plenty authentic enough on its own. So, just some small hindrances that don’t quite belong in their morbid aesthetic, nothing that would impede repeated listening. Best riffs: “Elegant in Their Funebrial Cloaks, Arisen” and “Crypt of His Communal Devourment.”
(2) Comment(s)
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GHOAT said:
There is no ‘gay laugh’ anywhere on this album. You must be hearing something else. In the middle of “Ritual of Ceremonial Embalm’ment” my voice cracks in the end of the slow part in the middle.
admin said:
I think that what Jack’s referring to starts at about 3:35 into the song. Might be more of a weird echo than anything else…
In any case, very good album!
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