Imprecation - Satanae Tenebris Infinita
Imprecation is a band that I’ve followed somewhat since I started listening to Death Metal back in the early ’90s. I say “somewhat” because their initial releases (all of which were compiled onto 1995’s Theurgia Goetia Summa) were kind of hard to get. They also disappeared, only to resurface again over a decade later and continue on as if nothing had happened. Twenty years since the unhallowed birth of Imprecation, they have finally released their debut album through Dark Descent Records. If you’ve never heard Imprecation before, the decidedly old-school Chris Moyen album art might fool you into believing that this is going to be a Blasphemy worshipping band. Imprecation’s influences are more in line with Incantation, though. I always described the band’s sound as Incantation meets Norse Black Metal. The band was never shy about including keyboards and atmospheric stuff where it worked. This is one of the things I always liked about them, and it is here but in a somewhat diminished form. I was expecting more atmospheric elements because that was what distinguished them from other brutal Black/Death Metal bands from their era. It also helped to break up the monotony. One of the issues folks out there have had with this LP is that it lacks diversity. This probably has a lot to do with the tonal range that Imprecation operates in. These guys are looking for brutality and that means that they have to operate in a narrow tonal range. You can only do so much in that range, though. Even if all of the riffs are different, they are all so tonally similar that they sound alike even though they aren’t. It’s still a solid effort, though. If you like Imprecation already, or you’re a fan of old-school Death Metal in the Incantation vein, Satanae Tenebris Infinita is an album that gives you what you want: brutal and Satanic Death Metal, no more and no less.
(1) Comment(s)
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Vijay Prozak said:
Great to see this Texas band getting some coverage on the venerable Metal Curse. \m/ -|- \m/
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