Incantation : "Unholy Deification"

 One of the most influential death metal bands of all time, guitarists John McEntee is the sole original member, but he has been playing with the bulk of the band long enough to have a chemistry that feels like this is Incantation. "Unholy Deification" is the band's 13th full length album. Where they have dabbled in death doom tempos with certain album this one finds the more solidly in the bpms more commonly thought of when it comes to the genre. The album opens in a more straight forward death metal fashion, though not solely relying on rapid double bass . The second song has more angular grooves that bookend in the sometimes blasting dynamics. 

"Chalice" is more hyper aggressive, and goes for the throat. This attack does resonate as what death metal is, but is not the band's darkest effort , aside from the lyrical concepts that bass player Chuck Sherwood wrote for this album. Not the first time he has done this as Sherwood contributed lyrics to "Profane Nexus". There are some very effective punchy passages that provide the needed accents to break things up. "Homunculus" is the first single I had heard from the album, and I was already impressed by the deliberate grind of the songs, and the balance of atmosphere in the melodic riffing. "Invocation" indulges in rapid fire riffing that finds the band sounding more like every other death metal band than one of the forefathers of the genre. Well executed, but not the most inspired.

Guitarist Luke Shively from Dismemberment is the line-ups newest member, he has been touring with the band since 2015, so falls right into place, there is nothing that screams he is bringing new elements to the table. "Megaron" finds the band falling into more of a Morbid Angel like sonic space. It's a more up-tempo song, though not the album's fastest. "Convulse" slows down and proves to be more crushing for doing so. It does speed up at two minutes in, but since there has been something to contrast with it works more effectively. "Altar" opens with some interesting ambient sounds, that helps set the stage. To it's credit the song does not just try to hammer your head in with steamrolling riffs which I appreciate. "Exile" feels like it is picking up where the previous song left off. A minute in it blasts off for better or worse. 

Things slow down to a more Obituary pace for "Circle' which closes the album. They hold faszt and do not default to what every one else would do , when the tempo shifts it is not done in the same manner we have heard previously in the album. This might not be their most inspired release, but it does hold true to who they are as a band. which is more than enough for younger bands to worship the footprints Incantation has left behind leading to this point in their career. I will give this album a 9. Not their best, but even dialing it in they are better than the average death metal band.This comes out August 25th on Relapse.