There are few bands in the metal scene today who’s music is so good they always leave me wanting more, year after year, album after album. Incantation happen to be one of those bands that just keep me wanting to come back to hear more. Since the release of their last epic, Diabolical Conquest in 1998, Incantation have undergone massive transformations once again. First it was guitarist/vocalist Daniel Corchado parting ways with the group to be replaced by Tom Stevens, then drummer Kyle Severn decided to move on, since then Tom has parted ways with the group. Late last year John McEntee found a replacement for the vocal/second guitar slot in Mike Saez, formerly of Deathrune. Unable to find a full-time replacement for Severn in time for the recording of their new release, they turned to Malevolent Creation/ex-Suffocation skinsman Dave Culross to record the drum tracks for the band’s latest full length The Infernal Storm, eight tracks of pure armageddon. Unlike many bands in the death metal genre, Incantation have not bought into the new trends, have not traded in their spikes and combat boots for baseball caps and Adidas, and have not changed their style one bit. With two new members, this is still the same Incantation of five years ago. Mike Saez growls along in a style that is somewhere between Ross Dolan of Immolation and former long-time Incantation vocalist Craig Pillard, the drumming of Dave Culross is so similar in style to Kyle Severn on this release, that you would swear the band had never changed line-ups in their history. Earlier last year John McEntee did fill in for Immolation for a mini-US tour, and it does seem as though their influence has rubbed off slightly as there are a few segments on the release that are reminiscent of that band’s sound, but thankfully there are no significant changes to the music or style of Incantation, which is a great relief to fans of their music. The music is incredibly tight, with the guitars, bass and drums flowing along with such a precisely played dark atmosphere that it will leave you raising the goat horns and nodding your head non-stop, pausing only to thrash your head violently during the faster segments. Dark, atmospheric, aggressive, hateful, powerful. These are only a handful of words to describe this release. The artwork, once again handled by Miram Kim, is uniquely dark and unusual, much like the band’s music. This is the style of death metal I prefer listening to, and Incantation has once again written one of the best albums of the genre. The album doesn’t have the best production, which is unfortunate, if it had the same production as they had on Diabolical Conquest, the album would have been much better, however, Immolation did not have the best production on Failures For Gods either, yet still managed to release the best album of ‘99. While not as great as some of their previous work, The Infernal Storm is still among the best, if not the best, album released so far in 2000. If you don’t get into this album, you don’t deserve to live.

Written By: Teufel