Incantation
Onward To Golgotha

THE REVIEW

What I am about to review is a masterpiece, a gem that any fan of Death Metal must own, "Onward to Golgotha" by the American band Incantation.

I must say that reviewing an album that has made history in my favorite genre is quite difficult; one cannot limit themselves to merely the strictly technical details. We are in 1992, one of the most incredible years in the history of Death Metal, which also sees the birth of Brutal Death Metal. While many bands during those years achieved fortune, like Obituary and Morbid Angel, others remained increasingly a niche phenomenon, appreciated by only a few. Incantation is one of these, but they never backed down, and indeed they still continue to release albums, always staying true to their style and genre, a raw and dirty Death Metal. For those like me who do not appreciate the application of melody to this genre, and rarely consider the experimentation of certain bands as justified, Incantation are absolute idols. And this album fully demonstrates that.

The song "Golgotha" opens the album with a sharp and brutal riff, then flows into the deep growl of John McEntee, the band’s singer and guitarist. Speed is not the only element of this album though, which also boasts much more Doom parts, with an atmosphere impeccably created by the guitars and bass. The way the four play is raw, dirty; the limited use of technicalities is solely adopted to create the rotten atmosphere that every Old School Death Metal album should have. The drum rhythms are focused on primordial blast beats combined with double bass drum bursts during breaks, McEntee's voice is truly dark, deep, not centered on power like many other Death Metal voices. The themes addressed are, as can be deduced, satanic and anti-Christian, topics the band will explore in all their albums, showing a true passion for offending others' religion. In this, Incantation are very similar to European Death Metal bands, 80% of which came from Sweden, who during those years released avalanches of demos and, when successful, studio albums that have entered history. Yes, because, even if most of you at Debaser believe this statement to be ridiculous, many of those Albums or Demos are extremely sought after by enthusiasts of this genre, despite the bands having largely broken up, with every trace of them swept away by time.

Seminal, that’s all that can be said about this band and this CD.