UMUR "Onward to Golgotha" is the debut full-length studio album by US death metal act Incantation. The album was released through Relapse Records in May 1992. Incantation formed in 1989 and are one of the greatly influential "Big Three" East Coast based death metal acts to appear in the late 80s/early 90s. The other two being Suffocation and Immolation. Incantation released two 1990 demos, the 1990 "Entrantment of Evil" EP, and the 1991 "Deliverance of Horrific Prophecies/Profanation" single/EP, before releasing "Onward to Golgotha", and they therefore weren´t new to recording music.

The music on the album is blasphemous themed death metal in the vein of early Morbid Angel and Immolation. Incantation has a murky and dark "evil" sound which sets them apart though. The music is very brutal and the songs are not easy to tell apart even after many listens, which isn´t helped by the fact that lead vocalist/guitarist Craig Pillard´s growls are abysmal deep and unintelligible. The tracks feature both blasting parts, heavy death metal parts, and quite a few crushingly heavy doomy parts. One of the great assets of "Onward to Golgotha" is the morbid hypnotic effect the music has on the listener. There´s an organic groove to the music, which is quite effectful and combined with the filthy, dark, and brutal sounding death metal and murky growling vocals, creates images of dank dark caves filled with unspeakable horrors or something in that vein. The whole album reeks a nasty evil atmosphere.

"Onward to Golgotha" is widely considered a classic old school death metal album, and for good reason. Not only is it a good quality death metal release, but it´s also an incredibly influential one, inspiring thousands of artists along the way. The murky, cavernous, and relentlessly brutal death metal style of Incantation was something new in 1992. Incantation used tried and true death metal elements and twisted them into something unheard of at the time and thereby created a new mini-subgenre of death metal. Credit is due and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

Nightfly Following the three year release pattern by Incantation over the last decade along comes album number thirteen from the USA death metal legends. I was extremely impressed by 2020’s Sect Of Vile Divinities, awarding it 4 ½ stars in my review. On the face of it Unholy Deification is more of the same but is it any good?

To answer the above question, well, yes, but… it didn’t get me hooked like last time around, at least not initially. Okay, it has big boots to fill as to my ears Sect Of Vile Divinities is top five Incantation. After four plays however it started to reveal its strengths. The first thing to note is after the cleaner sound (relatively speaking) we had last time the sound here is murkier and more in keeping generally with past work. This is old school death metal with slower doomier parts alongside breakneck blasting as you would expect from Incantation. Opener Offerings (The Swarm) is a perfect example of the Incantation sound. Fast and extremely heavy and a killer riff. Concordat (The Pact) follows and is more of the same only better. Homuncules (Spirit Made Flesh) is the first of the slower songs but still crushes with a compelling doomy riff. One or two songs lack memorability like Megaron (Sunken Chamber) that comes and goes leaving no or little impression but on the whole this is solid stuff.

The organic sound is essential for the murky depths that Incantation go to and works well. The band play well with mainman John McEntee’s easily recognisable guttural growl to the fore. The mixture of slower and faster tempos keeps things more interesting than 45 minutes of relentless blastbeats, something the band clearly know and use to good effect.

Unholy Deification is an album that is worthy of perseverance as it takes a while to reveal its strengths. It’s a more complex beast than initial impressions give. At present I’m not rating it quite as highly as previous album Sect Of Vile Divinities but that may change with a few more plays. Nevertheless it’s another strong addition to the bands impressive back catalogue and fans of the band are unlikely to be disappointed.

UMUR "Deliverance of Horrific Prophecies / Profanation" is an EP/single release by US death metal act Incantation, which was released through Relapse Records in November 1991. Incantation released the "Entrantment of Evil" EP in August 1990 and before that two demos in early 1990. Both tracks on "Deliverance of Horrific Prophecies / Profanation" are culled from the June 1990 "Demo #1" and were later re-recorded and included on the band´s 1992 debut full-length studio album "Onward to Golgotha".

As if the material on the "Entrantment of Evil" (1990) EP wasn´t dark and brutal enough, Incantation just continue to deliver material straight from the abyss on "Deliverance of Horrific Prophecies / Profanation" (not surprisingly really, as the material from both recordings were recorded at the same sessions), which is an even more brutal and mean sounding death metal release. While it´s certainly fast and blasting at times, it´s actually surprisingly doomy and heavy too. The growling vocals have now become almost beastly and unintelligible in nature, and the gloomy and murky sounding production further enhances the feeling that you´re on a one-way trip to hell...

...Incantation´s closest relative at this point is definitely Immolation, but they thankfully manage to put their own spin on the most brutal and occult themed part of the early 90s US death metal scene. Definitely worth a listen if you enjoy that type of death metal. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Entrantment of Evil" is an EP release by US, death metal act Incantation released through Seraphic Decay in August 1990. Incantation formed in 1989 and released two 1990 demos before releasing "Entrantment of Evil". "Entrantment of Evil" is their first label release. All five tracks, except the short intro track, would be re-recorded and included on the band´s 1992 debut full-length studio album "Onward to Golgotha". The material on the EP was recorded in May/June 1990 and three of the tracks are culled directly from the June 1990 "Demo #1". The demo sessions spawned two further tracks, which aren´t included here ("Profanation" and "Deliverance of Horrific Prophecies"). "Profanation" was included on the June 1990 "Demo #1", while "Deliverance of Horrific Prophecies" wouldn´t appear until it was included on the November 1991 "Deliverance of Horrific Prophecies" single.

For the time the material on "Entrantment of Evil" is pretty dark and brutal death metal, featuring occult themed lyrics. The growling vocals are mean and not of the most intelligible kind. Listening to the 5 tracks on he 13:48 minutes long EP I´m at times reminded of contemporary artists like Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse (minus the gore lyrics/image) and especially Immolation. So it´s technically well played US death metal featuring both fast blasting parts and heavier mid-paced brutality. The tracks are a slightly one-dimensional, but still relatively well written. A few more catchy moments wouldn´t have hurt, but Incantation are obviously not the type of act who take prisoners. There´s no compromising with the darkness and brutality here. The only feature temporarily adding something different to the relentless aggression and brutality are the screaming chromatic guitar solos.

"Entrantment of Evil" features a dark, raw, and brutal sounding production job, but while there is a great gloomy death metal authenticity about the recording, it´s actually relatively well produced and all details are audible in the mix. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Demo #1" is a demo release by US death metal act Incantation. The demo was recorded in May and June 1990 and despite the title of the demo, Incantation had actually already recorded a rehearsal demo in January 1990, so if you count that, this is demo number 2. Three out of the four tracks from this demo would be re-recorded and included on the band´s 1992 debut full-length studio album "Onward to Golgotha". Six tracks were originally recorded during the May/June 1990 recording sessions, but "Unholy Massacre" and "Deliverance of Horrific Prophecies" do not appear on this demo. The former would be included on the August 1990 "Entrantment of Evil" EP, and the latter would be included on the November 1991 "Deliverance of Horrific Prophecies" single.

While the previous rehearsal demo was a raw, savage, and noisy product, "Demo #1" is a well sounding professional studio recording. It´s rough around the edges, raw, and unpolished, but it´s still a well sounding demo release for the genre and the time. "Profanation" has survived from the rehearsal demo and we´re finally able to hear the track in all it´s brutal and savage glory. The remaining tracks are of an equally high quality, and as Incantation are the kind of act who take no prisoners, the music style and sound on all four tracks on the demo are pretty similar. This is pummeling, brutal, and murky sounding death metal from the deepest depths of hell. An act like Morbid Angel is a reference, but it´s definitely Immolation that I´m mostly thinking about, when listening to this demo.

It´s no mystery to me that Incantation were signed on the merits of the material on this demo. These are high quality death metal compositions in the most brutal end of the scale (for 1990) and when they are presented in a well sounding production and delivered by inspired and well playing musicians as they are here, this demo ends up a winner. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.