Diabolical Conquest

Debut Onward to Golgotha has the cooler name and the street cred but it wasn’t until third album Diabolical Conquest that Incantation fully ascended to the top of the altar of madness. Only guitarist (and later vocalist) John McEntee remained from Incantation’s earlier incarnations, although future drummer Kyle Severn joined the melee here. The Chasm grunter Daniel Corchado made his one appearance a memorable one, his malevolent belches perfectly coating McEntee’s caveman riffs in slime on cavernous classics like the title track and 16-minute beatdown session “Unto Infinite Twilight/Majesty of Infernal Damnation.” Brutal death metal usually works best when it goes back to the primitive. Here, the New Yorkers prove a little finesse goes a long way.

Incantation’s third album is a death metal masterpiece. Though they’ve been plagued by lineup changes, with guitarist John McEntee the only constant in the early years, on this record bassist/vocalist Daniel Corchado (who also contributed extra guitars) and drummer Kyle Severn are completely tuned into the leader’s vision, delivering on every level. Corchado’s vocals are a menacing, bearlike roar, and his bass is a thick, almost postpunk bludgeon; Severn’s drumming is crisp and powerful, anchoring the mix like a mountain unperturbed by the whirlwinds of guitar all around. The band does their usual fast-then-slow thing, mixing furious death metal and crawling doom, but this album truly comes together at the end; its final track, “Unto Infinite Twilight/Majesty Of Infernal Damnation,” takes up more than 1/3 of the total running time, a breathtaking 16:47 epic that takes the listener on a genuine musical journey — through the pits of Hell, sure, but a journey nonetheless.