We could sit here all day and talk about different bands out there that have been around for what’s been multiple decades at this point and what impact they’ve had on the various scenes across the vast, sprawling underground of metal. Death metal has by far no shortage of notable acts that quantify as such with Incantation not being anywhere near the least of which. They’ve been dealing their particular brand of heaviness for many, many albums now with every single one of them having something worth talking about whether it’s one song or a few, or the entire work being something that must be discussed. When it comes to their forthcoming album that is “Sect of Vile Divinities”, I truly do believe there isn’t anything not worth talking about here.
When we talk about death metal returning to form, we need to understand that can actually mean a couple of different things. The style has always had a few select forms of sound that many bands like to return to every now and then for many different reasons. Incantation has always stayed around the same sound for all this time, but it’s here that they seem to take the concept of returning to form to heart as it’s here with “Sect of Vile Divinities” that feels like their classic works reborn in the modern era with all that glorious Incantation talent and quality to boot. That’s instantly something that many death metal fans are going to want to investigate the moment they’re able to get their hands on it, and if that’s not worth talking about then I don’t know what is.
Right off the bat, you can feel that “Sect of Vile Divinities” is an almost entirely different beast just from the very sonic reverberations of the massive sound and uncompromising death metal that Incantation expertly delivers our way. There have been very few death metal albums of late that I’ve heard that have been anywhere nearly as scathing as any single song throughout this album and every time I listen to them they’re utterly stupendous between the sheer talent that we’ve constantly seen from Incantation over the years with all the finesse of modern death metal enhancing “Sect of Vile Divinities” to quickly become something that’s not to be underestimated or skipped by any means. It’s twelve tracks of pure venomous destruction that are nigh on infectious that’s clearly leagues beyond many contemporary attempts at the same feeling with there being plenty of elements that we’ve seen and are more than used to by now but it’s with the addition of clear mastery and a true understanding of this brutal sound which Incantation is constantly bringing to the table that sets everything about this album above a very large portion of the competition is a way that is nothing but overwhelming.
Death metal like this is not necessarily rare to come by anymore, but that doesn’t make its reoccurring appearance any brand of boring or uneventful. That especially goes for when a fabled act like Incantation pulls it off for that means we’re in for something quite special, and that’s just the very beginnings of what describes the contents of “Sect of Vile Divinities”. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see this record brought up when it comes time for us to recount our favorite albums of the past year for it has everything for every sort of death metal fan breathing, and it will surely be touted as another immense victory for Incantation.
“Sect of Vile Divinities” releases on August 21st via Relapse Records! You can pre-order the album via multiple sources here.
Track Listing:
1. Ritual Impurity (Seven of the Sky is One)
2. Propitiation
3. Entrails of the Hag Queen
4. Guardians from the Primeval
5. Black Fathom’s Fire
6. Ignis Fatuus
7. Chant of Formless Dread
8. Shadow-blade Masters of Tempest and Malestrom
9. Scribes of the Stygian
10. Unborn Ambrosia
11. Fury’s Manifesto
12. Siege Hive
