Time Signature Shadows of the ancient empire...

Genre. death metal

Originally released in 1998 in the tail-end of the heyday of old school 90s death metal Incantation's classic extreme metal release "Diabolical Conquest" probably has somewhat of a cult status. It was reissued in January in vinyl format on Hell's Headbangers Records, reflecting its status as a cult classic in the metal community.

Stylistically, we are dealing with old school death metal which ranges from heavy and doom-laden passages akin to Autopsy's style (just check 'Unto Infinite Twilight') to blastbeat-driven death-grind, and, to top it off, there are elements of blackened death metal - a style which would later become quite popular among fans of extreme metal (the opener is a good example of the album's blackened element).

While not technically advanced as such, the songs are nevertheless quite complex in the sense that, true to the death metal aesthetics of the mid 90s, each track features several sections, shifts, and changes. There is plenty of traditional death metal riffage to make any fan of old school death metal happy, and the production has that thick fuzzy sound that was unique to that era. The vocals are, for my money, on the weaker side compared to many other growlers, but this does not detract from the overall listening experience.

Vinyl collecting death-heads should definitely, if they do not already own it, add Hell's Headbangers' special edition vinyl reissue of this cult classic to their collection.