Imprecation
Theurgia goetia summa

This album from the Texans Imprecation (active since 1991 and still in good shape) reeks of oldness. Naturally, for genre enthusiasts, this is a great asset. The production is raw, amateurish, but exudes demonic feeling from every pore (what, in my opinion, was missing in the latest Behemoth, "Evangelion"), the guitar is phlegm-ridden, carrying infectious and venomous riffs, just like the singer/bassist's voice that spits blood behind the microphone: simply morbid.

This compilation comprising the group's early demos and new tracks written for the occasion (circa 1995) stands among the numerous underground releases that still today honor death metal, making it a phenomenon essentially built on extreme passion for music, while the Satanophile themes from low-quality horror films are just a backdrop. Just look at the cover, as simple as it is explanatory, or the logo, which features both a pentagram and an inverted cross... they certainly won't sound emo or pop punk! Rhythmic cadences and variations make the CD quite diverse, with occasionally sinister and welcome keyboards surfacing amidst frequent slowdowns, the Imprecation are serious and aim to annihilate us with all their available weapons. Among these, instrumental technique certainly cannot be included: the best passages from this point of view are suffocated by the muddled sound.

But who said that to play great violent music you need to play at lightning speed? If a flaw can be found, it is the excessive homogeneity of the tracks, but my advice is to embrace the sincerity of "Theurgia Goetia Summa" and travel back in time, when solos served the song and not vice versa, when simplicity was the path to follow...