INCANTATION - Sect of Vile Divinities

 

INCANTATION - Sect of Vile Divinities

Relapse Records

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A somewhat better Incantation release that I've heard them belt out in 2020.  Definitely solid and steady, not to mention some cool riffs here and there.  I must confess that I'm not a longtime fan of this band that started in 1989.  They just never struck me as interesting or worth investing time listening to their music.  This one has me curious.  It's filled with tempo changes, but as a whole, doesn't get too fast.  Towards the middle to the end of the album, things (tempos) slow down quite a bit.  Not all entirely, but from the beginning of the album towards the end, there's quite a shift in that slowed down riff/drum outputs.

The vocals I'm not a fan of, but it keeps it to being underground.  And that has all the difference it's made. I kind of thought this band to always be boring as up until recently I felt that I should give them a try, especially in 2020 where that whole year or just about was awful.  And the fact that they were writing in the pandemic made listeners (as I say) curious.  Though critics didn't esteem the band making a solid "B-" like I did, but that's their perspective.  I thought that they did well enough being that they go through musicians pretty fast and their sound was solid and the quality of the death metal was also that: SOLID.

I was a skeptic at the hereabouts, but I played it a few more then a few more (digital then physical CD) and ended up actually thinking: "hey! this is pretty decent, talk about it."  So in retrospect I shut off some negative things I said about this release and pushed them to the river.  I felt that their death metal 30 years or just about, has been worthwhile.  If you don't appreciate the value of this band, that's your loss.  They have some really good riffs and the production quality/mixing/recording were all good.  The band's music I favored over the vocals, but the vocals were just so guttural that they have an acquired taste to them.

In conclusion, 'Sect of Vile Divinities' shows us a good chapter in Incantation's discography.  They did a better than average job, which I myself didn't initially think that to be possible.  But it was and they were SOLID.  I think a combination of the riffs, vocals, leads, tempos, etc. were better than just a mere average that this line averaged out to.  They play good music and coming from a picky skeptic, that's saying a lot.  Let's hope that they continue onto their over 30 year career.  Let that alone and show the band support.  Check out this album on Spotify or YouTube, see what I'm saying here!  Buy the album!

Ryan “Death8699” Fanucchi