Incantation - Vanquish in Vengeance
Ever wish you could go back in time, sit down with the person you used to be when you were young and slap the living dogpiss out of yourself? As an ignorant know-it-all teenager, I shunned the early works of Incantation for not being memorable enough. What I didn’t realize at the time was that records like Onward to Golgotha and Mortal Throne of Nazarene possessed a pure aural darkness unlike any other. An ominously heavy, evil sound so sacred and rare that countless bands are still trying to recreate it to this day. So what if there weren’t any “hits?” Listening to this newest offering from the band, it dawned on me that not even Incantation can match the brutality of old Incantation! Don’t get me wrong, I love this record, and over the last decade, mainman John McEntee has solidified matters in the memorability department with some of the finest songwriting in the genre. Vanquish in Vengeance serves as a testimony to that, as the opening three cuts flatten the listener with rugged ferocity, primal intensity, and actual hooks! “Invoked Infinity” charges out of the gate with a sizzling tremolo-picked riff straight out of the World Downfall handbook. Abysmal delight ensues as high-speed, otherworldly heaviness carries us to a patented Incantation breakdown, replete with squealing pinch harmonics, that transitions to a Slayerific solo before collapse. Drummer Kyle Severn shows off his Sandovalian blasting chops on “Ascend Into the Eternal” and “Progeny of Tyranny,” which bring to mind the divine pain of Covenant-era Morbid Angel. McEntee’s riff crush and devour at any pace (see “Haruspex”), and while he’s no Craig Pillard, his iconic bestial growl is right up there with the best of them. If there’s one flaw it’s that after the monstrous title track, the album’s energy seems to fizzle. The last four tracks don’t pack the same punch as the first six, with the tediously dragging “Legion of Dis” closing the LP out on a very anti-climactic note. Even McEntee’s vocals appear to tire towards the end, and —while I despise the snide remark as much as any Death fiend— when McEntee’s a little off he literally sounds like the Cookie Monster. Still, Vanquish in Vengeance is way more killer than filler, and another remarkable entry into the legendary catalog of Death Metal’s most vicious.
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