Mortal Throne of Nazarene

Album artwork is a big part of what makes a record captivating. Take Cannibal Corpse, for example. One of the first things that drew me in was the very rancid and gory album art. It’s a way to get noticed and a way to get a reputation in the scene through controversy if the album artwork is so explicit. However, some artwork is captivating in a more disturbing and interesting manner. This is how I felt when I first stumbled upon Incantation’s second album “Mortal Throne of Nazarene”. I was immediately struck by how odd, unsettling, and unique Miran Kim’s artwork truly is. And I can see why they used her artwork for over 6 records. She makes some killer art. Regardless after I saw that album cover I knew this would be a disgusting slab of death metal. And I was right.

Somehow Incantation bridges an even new level of filth and rawness on here. The production while not as loud as “Onward to Golgotha”, is still extremely raw and noisy. The bass is also now properly tuned and mixed. I can hear it perfectly throughout this whole album and sounds pretty nasty alongside the guitars. The guitars have an even more raw and buzzsaw tone to them. And aren’t as loud as they once were, but still maintain that heavy attack.

The same goes for Craig Pillard’s vocals. His vocals are much lower and quiet. But it doesn’t lose an ounce of heaviness because he sounds perfect. He’s got that same energy and demonic range of extremely low gurgles and snarls. He also has a few gutturals drag on to make them sound heavy and cavernous. His voice to this day is still extremely distinctive and memorable.

I’m gonna take two paragraph’s to talk about something else. Sometime when I was first getting into Incantation. I remember seeing that there was a second version of this album that had a completely different title and production. But contained the same songs and arrangements. And I gotta say. “Upon the Throne of Apocalypse” sounds WORSE than “Mortal Throne of Nazarene” in my opinion.

It's not utterly dogshit. Everything sounds nice and dirty. But goddamn the drums can be so loud at points, as well as being filled with static that when it hits a blast beat I can’t hear shit for a couple of seconds. Especially in the opening moments of “Demonic Incarnate”. Holy hell it sounds repulsive. But other than when the blast beats are playing things sound pretty good. I just prefer “Mortal Throne of Nazarene” by a long shot.

Now back to the elements of “Mortal Throne of Nazarene”. The riff and guitar department are an all-out assault. It's way more doomy, and it's way more intense. There are tons of grooves as well as some deranged pinch harmonics and bendy riffs. Blending both intense styles of extreme metal being well. The bass work as well is also pretty fucking nasty and flows well with the guitars. Especially when you get to a tremolo-based section. It’s so satisfying to hear the bass and guitars tremolo together.

Both instruments are extremely well-written and sound heavy as fuck. They don’t compromise a damn thing and stick with what they have. When it’s intense it sounds like a damn freight train. And when it gets doomy, the record takes a more evil and ominous tone. I also hear a tinge of melody here and there. Once again each song is hook-laden and heavy as fuck. Craig’s and John McEntee’s guitar work continues to be flawless on here.

Jim Roe’s drumming is still very intense and well-composed. He has a lot of frantic thrashy beats along with these ungodly disgusting blast beats. The snare sounds perfectly executed and is extremely precise and very rhythmic. The way he transitions from the death metal to the doomy stuff is amazing. The guitars, bass, drums, and vocals are flow perfectly. From a wide variety of slow, fast, and mid-paced tempos. While leaning more on the doom side than on the debut album.

This album is also shorter than “Onward to Golgotha” and contains 8 songs rather than 12. But this means the songs have longer lengths. Most breach in between 3-8 minutes, with the exception being the 52-second song “Blissful Bloodshower”.

Which is a perfect transition into the monstrous 8-minute song “Abolishment of Immaculate Serenity”. Which is the doomiest song of the album. It starts off extremely slow and heavy with these slow riffs and haunting vocals from Craig. The drums drag along with the other instruments as they continue to build up the atmosphere. And that’s what this song does it’s continue to build on that slow tempo. Whenever the song does speed up it’s still very slow mid-paced chugs and grooves. And it has a nice variety of dissonant solos and leads. Overall it’s a highlight song and is a great example of death doom. Some other favorites of mine include “Emaciated Holy Figure”, “The Ibex Moon”, and “Essence Ablaze”.

Overall this is my favorite Incantation album. It checks all the boxes in terms of what I love about this band. Heavy intense blasting, catchy and memorable songs, and slow doomy beats. If you’re looking to get into this band and death doom as a whole this is the gold standard for it. So check it out. A flawless piece of death metal.

Sinister as fuck. I mean, what good could eloquence serve here ? That's right: if you're looking for punishingly grim music, relentless in its seething hostility, surely this is it. Screw Chopin's 'Funeral march'. Incantation's notorious mixture of pure death metal with gruesome doom dirges is the way to go if you're looking to grin til you pull a freaking stroke.

But it's not all brutish agitation for the sake of it. This isn't some common sludge-fest that puts the listener to sleep after the second track. The death metal is hectic and lively, with a throbbing vehemence to it. There's such a concentrated blackness to it - an urgent, corrosive intensity, animated by an underlying sense of horror, at times bordering on the apocalyptic. And the doom stuff pulls the audience into its near-nauseating state of indignation towards existence - well, that doesn't sound too great to go through when put that way, but, the point is it's convincing for what it's attempting to do. I think this is basically Six Feet Under if they were good (OK, didn't mean it that way).

The absolutely cavernous, subterranean howls stick so well to those disturbingly abyssal dirge sections. They're sort of like if an extreme metal band got a grizzly bear to sing for them. Generally this sort of lower-than-ground vocal frequency style shits all over the instrumental and stalls the tracks with monotonous boredom, but in this case, they bring a sort of "voice from beyond" type of presence. They're just as threatening and ominous as the composition. All in all this album's just got this massive weight to it. It feels genuinely immovable, and intimidating. A bit like a 'Symphonies of Sickness' (Carcass), it's got this lucid, nearly repulsive macabre quality to it - an unforgiving brutality at its core.

Of course the production sucks from a purely mixing point of view, this being made before death metal's decent production era. It's appreciable in that within its aesthetic it reproduces the album cover art in musical form, mirroring that weirdness and organic realism. But obviously it's far from optimal with the entire drum set too far at the back and in particular the masked kicks and the neglected overheads that can't supply their dramatic splash and crash to the monstrous guitars, and the toms have a hard time getting head above water at all. It sounds giant and mighty, though, in spite of the material/technical shortcomings. It's big, gritty...and a bit filthy.

What's always been really cool with these guys is they don't give a shit about intros. So, where other bands like to play it cute and often spend an unnecessary amount of time and effort establishing foreplay with the listener, Incantation just bust the door down and give it to you whether you wanted it or not - although this sentence now accidentally sounds like an innuendo. Hear Track 3 'Iconoclasm of Catholicism'. That tremolo picked, pure death metal goodness. Mmm. Chocolate ice-cream with roasted nuts. Come to think of it, I'd love to see these guys work as brutal dairy farmers. Oh yes, and they're very, very angry at Christendom of course. That had to appear here, somewhere. I think every single song title makes a reference to that, so. They're satanic brutal dairy farming bears.

OK, I'll make total disclosure that this album is definitely better than a 70 on a musical quality scale, it's actually probably a 90, but I can do whatever the fuck I please, and am going to give it a 70 for one simple fucking reason: I love Onward to Golgotha so much that this album perpetually lives in its shadow, and I never feel the need to listen to it very much.

Musically it's the Incantation we all know and love, low, bassy as fuck sound, absolutely primordial, twisted, satanic melodies, very creative, and intelligent song structuring, and lyrics that are generally sophisticated, and majestic, yeah everything Incantation does well is done in full effect here, I just never wanna fucking listen to it, as I'm constantly fellating Onward to Golgotha(it's actually fairly hard to type all this out being on my knees and all)

In comparison to OTG, this album is a little bit more diverse, yeah I know, saying an Incantation album is diverse is sort of like saying a gated community in a nice part of town is diverse, but really the production aids in that by being noticeable "brighter" shall we say than the debut, which was absolutely pitch black in terms of tone, but I think it's a strength for this album, it balances out the debut strictly speaking in terms of tone, the songwriting also is more diverse with songs alternating between really evil tremolo sections Ala the debut, but with more of an emphasis on twisted melody this time around, it's also a lot doomier in that there are several songs where it transforms into a strictly doom direction as opposed to OTG where the slower parts on that album mostly were a counter point to the mostly blasting and mid paced moments

Yeah I know it's pretty fucking hack to compare this so directly to the debut, but as much as I truly think this is a great album, i just always reach for the debut and neglect this one, and I don't even think that's even a cheap criticism either, it's my general impression of this album, I like it a lot, I enjoy it immensely every time I hear it, I think the songwriting, and performances are top teir, I just truly never wanna fucking listen to it.

At the start of this series of reviews, I mentioned how Tomb Mold got me into what is commonly referred to as “caverndeath”. As one would expect, my journey through this microgenre inevitably brought me to the New York scene, and the subject of today’s review, Incantation. The (at the time) New York stalwarts immediately struck a chord with me, and quickly became one of my favourite bands in general. Finding them after so much digging felt like I had struck gold, and no album of theirs exemplifies that better than their sophomore, Mortal Throne of Nazarene.

First things first, this album is fucking dank. The production is drenched in reverb and everything just feels massive, as if it was recorded in well, a cave. The guitars are crushing, the drums are pummelling, and the bass provides even more low end, creating an album that is dense not only musically, but sonically as well. I would also be remiss not to mention Craig Pillard’s monstrous vocals. His overbearing presence adds a layer of malevolence to the entire album which everyone has spent the better part of the last 15 years trying to emulate, but seemingly no one has managed to capture its essence.

Now, the production is good and all, but Incantation’s trademark songwriting style is what truly grabbed me and just refused to let go. The band’s mix of frenzied high-speed tremolo riffs and crushing doom sections might seem slapdash and random at first, but with every repeat listen things make more and more sense. The way the riffs unfold and crumble into one another in an unpredictable manner in tracks like “Demonic Incarnate”, “Nocturnal Dominium” and “The Ibex Moon”, make for a very full experience that takes multiple listens to digest.

Despite the erratic and constantly shifting nature of the songwriting, there are plenty of memorable and catchy moments to be found here. Well, truth be told they aren’t exactly hummable either, but every track has more than a handful of riffs that manage to wedge themselves in your head, especially with repeat listens. The aforementioned “The Ibex Moon” has what is arguably the band’s single greatest moment in that gnarly opening, with the drumroll that plays into that crawling descending riff. In the time after I listened to this album, I’ve not found a single band in this style that has managed to create a moment as crushing as this, and if that’s not a testament to Incantation’s writing chops I don’t know what is.

Mortal Throne of Nazarene is one of those albums that just rule. It’s something that is hard to put into words because of how good it is, and its influence on death metal can be felt to this day. Incantation’s always been a very consistent band, with an output that in my eyes ranges from “good” to “this album”. There are some other albums in their catalogue that try to grasp at its greatness, but end up falling short. It’s essential death metal listening and if you haven’t listened to it already you’re doing yourselves a massive disservice.

Highlights: Demonic Incarnate, Nocturnal Dominium, The Ibex Moon, Abolishment of Immaculate Serenity

Nothing happens twice. Apparently...because such a theory in the case of Incantation somehow does not suit - which will be discussed in more detail in a moment. It's interesting that "Mortal Throne Of Nazarene" was released in 1994, when death metal was getting worse and a large part of bands from this trend were dying or departing into unconvincing experiments. Meanwhile, the John McEntee's band apparently did not care about the trends prevailing at the time (which will become characteristic for them) and they decided to record an album...even more underground! It would seem, after all, that everything about the cavernous death metal has already been said in case of "Onward To Golgotha"...

Oh but no! The music on "Mortal..." shows that a lot could be done in this matter, and at the same time to keep the meaning and introduce a completely new quality. They managed to get even more putrid, abnormal, with morbid melodies and with classic death metal structures. Moreover, Craig Pillard created some of the most inhuman vocals in Incantation history on this album! - ultra-illegible and blending into other instruments (this is not a complaint). The effects turned out to be very peculiar, but also very intriguing, because "Mortal Throne Of Nazarene" is an incredibly heavy, dingy and unfriendly album - even for a death/doom.

In short, John McEntee's band (with a new bassist - Dan Kamp) on "Mortal..." went over themselves and created the material almost maximum underground ("almost" - because later they also managed to develop this formula into various, interesting directions). All of the songs emanate the same dose of evil and obscurantism, with an obvious indication of "Essence Ablaze", "Emaciated Holy Figure" or the hit "The Ibex Moon", although it should also be clearly noted that on "Mortal..." they break down (most of the most) by "Demonic Incarnate" and "Abolishment Of Immaculate Serenity", in which the concentration of hell exceeds any limits - as if the band really came to the devil.

In this way, on "Mortal Throne Of Nazarene" Americans from Incantation confirmed that they were able to record an equally outstanding cd as "Onward To Golgotha", and at the same time different and bringing a lot of changes. Not a common thing with such underground sounding albums!

Originally on: https://subiektywnymetal.blogspot.com/2021/08/incantation-mortal-throne-of-nazarene.html

I’ll try to make this short and focus on the production, as I’ve covered the “behind-the-scenes” on the “Throne” records. This remixed version was out a year before the band/record label released the original mix. While I don’t find the sound between the two that different, Mortal Throne of Nazarene was unnecessary in the band’s defense. Of course, this doesn’t exclude the songs’ quality or that their writings qualify as terrible songs... As you’ve already figured out by now, this is a cleaner version.

I have to give praise for the proper bass mix that’s at least more audible, unlike to the original version. But the clean production kills the vibe. The songs are brutal, all right, but they lack the rawness and uncompromising aggression. The death growls aren’t as brutal, the riffs feel empty, and the drum work sounds weak. Iconoclasm of Catholicism‘s mix here is just disgusting in a bad way. The guitars sound so damn clear, it makes the song unbearable to tune in. While the mix is nauseating, it’s also overwhelmingly unbalanced. One instrument, or even the death growls, becomes louder on top of each other. Another take on this disastrous mixing is the overwhelming vocals on Nocturnal Dominium. While arguably the best song in both versions, the death growls take away the song’s natural aggression.

Demonic Incarnate and Essence Ablaze are the redeeming qualities of this record. Not only the former personally grew on me, but this shows that the songs themselves are great and may sound better than those on Upon the Throne of Apocalypse. They’re louder and chaotic, with refined guitars and demonic death growls. The Ibex Moon is as boring as the original. For both records, this is the point where the music suddenly transitioned to a much slower and dull sound; being the worst song overall. Whichever version you liked the most is up to you, but most of the remixed songs hold little compared to their original counterparts.

Everything in this record is obscure and condensed evil. Composition, production, vocal style, lyrics, the cover, all of that fit the occultist concept and image of the band.

The riffing is pretty straight forward, fast, dark and mysterious. Tone interval suggests lots of tension and suspense, giving you the feeling something wrong is about to happen. Pretty cool. There are melodic guitar lines everywhere, designed for that purpose. Despite being simple and easy to play, the riffs are extremely expressive. When you're talking about songwriting, simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication, and they nailed it here. The traditional death metal outfit is combined with a serious doom metal influence, there are also very slow passages driven by open power chords, super heavy; that combined with the ultra deep and low and guttural vocals sound pretty much like the lamentations from the souls trapped in hell. Take for example the last song of the album, which is 8 minutes long. The way it builds up; slow, dark intro for the first couple of minutes, then percussive accentuation to introduce traditional death metal riffs for a couple of bars, and then the whole bands kicks in in a blast beat frenzy. Lovely. They manage to build expectation with suspense and then fulfill it with brutality.

Production isn’t modern at all and is not very polished. It's actually pretty rough but you can understand each instrument most of the time. The raw character of the sound quality adds a lot of density to the album, the whole listening experience is super heavy, no matter how fast or slow they play. Drums sound completely old school, and they have a nice reverb on them to help them mix, and have vintage sound. Performance is pretty basic but is works, this isn't about being technical, this is about going to hell. Guitars are very downtuned, probably C, I'm not sure, but you can bet they have lots of lows and have a massive, super dense body. The guitar tone is heavily distorted for sure, but is also sent to the back by some effect, probably a reverb, so they sound even more deep and dismal. Bass guitar lays a solid base for the guitars to develop some harmonies, and it has a nice crunchy tone. Even if it doesn't stand out that much, it works pretty well. Vocally, production and the infernal and demented performance are the strongest points of the album. The gutturals’ level on the mix is kind of high, and they add echo effects that make it sound absolutely sepulchral.

Mortal Throne of Nazarene is a cult album, indispensable for death metal fans. The epitome of the genre. Pure evil, sick shit.

Imagine all the furnaces of hell devouring the earth through a wind tunnel of eternal hatred. This immeasurable hate, so pure and uncompromising, is fueled by the omniscient fury of blast beats, tremolo picking, and the evilest, lowest vocals this side of Demilich’s Nespithe. To enter this scorched and vitriolic realm is to at once pass the point of no return. From the opening moments of “Demonic Incarnate,” Incantation manifests its bestial malignancy in the form of devastatingly brutal death metal, complete with some of the most dismal, diabolical doom ever recorded. If ever there was a death/doom album, this is the end-all be-all.

Mortal Throne of Nazarene traverses a barrage of soundscapes from nuclear infernos to the bleakest of desolation. The inhumanly low vocals of this oft-overlooked masterpiece are subtle and superb; an equal part of the abysmal whole. Craig Pillard is a man possessed with cyclopean rage, his voice punishing the listener from below. Indeed, the word “low” describes the tonality of this music quite well, as the artists seem to be drawing from the guttural, more carnal reaches of their collective unconscious as a metal entity. It seems the conjuring of Mortal Throne could have been done in a single, sweeping motion, as though it were channeled directly from the very depths of the abyss. Two minutes into this burning pit and we are plummeted further still to a fathomless void of anachronistic doom, a veritable sea of nihil shifting with the breath of the slumbering ancients. Of the DM bands with names ending in “-tion,” Incantation win the gold chalice for diabolus in musica.

Some very weird and ray gun-like guitar feedback closes “Emaciated Holy Figure” and blasts us directly into the torrents of “Iconoclasm of Catholicism.” This barbaric piece brutalizes us with a bludgeoning thrash assault juxtaposed to double bass 32nds. Tremolo-picked warfare and vocal devastation are constants in the compositional equation throughout these movements, and there is no lack of heaving riffage, as expertly demonstrated at 0:31 on “Essence Ablaze.” Caveman riffs such as this are tastefully employed over the course of the album, making it clear that Incantation are quite confident and fearless in the presentation of their dementia. They snap your neck in cold blood with tempo changes. They fuck your mind with cathartic morbidity. This obscure work of demoniacal beauty goes well with candlelight and solitude and the night.

As opposed to virtually all death metal albums, you will not find any polka or “Slayer” beats among the tornados of high velocity attack. The drumming is urgent and primal, the fast parts generally ripped with either a thrashing quarter note snare and hats combination or a balls to the wall blast beat. Mortal Throne of Nazarene is pretty much equal parts fast and slow, as the musicians willfully explore all the heaviest means to the most crushing of ends. The band absolutely hits their sadistic stride with the blunt trauma of the half-time feel and aforementioned 32nd note kicks, as displayed with hellish malediction in “The Ibex Moon.”

The tumultuous “Blissful Bloodshower” is probably the weakest among the offerings here, but only because it is so brief, clocking in at only forty-eight seconds. It could be viewed perhaps as a final adrenaline rush before all gravity is lost to the black hole that is “Abolishment of Immaculate Serenity.” God dammit I love the intellectual song titles. A bit of lyrical hubris is welcomed here with these far-out song structures, volcanic vocals, nihilistic guitar work and molten blasphemy. This piece closes the album as one would close a coffin, lower it to the grave and see it swallowed by dirt one shovel-full at a time. The word “dark” does this album no justice. Left Hand Path is dark. This death metal monument goes beyond darkness to previously unexplored chasms of evil.

It's no secret that Incantation are one of my all time favourite bands. With releases like 1992's "Onward To Golgotha" and 1998's "Diabolical Conquest", there is no denying that Incantation are one of the heaviest, darkest, and most crushing death metal bands to grace the death metal scene. Their sophomore effort, "Mortal Throne Of Nazarene" certainly pushes the band to new levels of darkness, and ends up being one of the most evil sounding death metal albums ever released.

This album has the same line up as "Onward to Golgotha", with the exception of bassist Ronny Deo being replaced by Dan Kamp. Unlike their debut (where a good majority of the songs had already been released on EPs prior to the album), the line up here seems to have participated more actively in the writing of this album. If you have any idea what vocalist/guitarist Craig Pillard has done after his time in Incantation, it makes a lot of sense. There are huge similarities here compared to Pillard's bands Womb and Disciples of Mockery (which also feature Ronny Deo and drummer Jim Roe). This has caused the doom elements on this album to be expanded, and this is definitely the doomiest thing Incantation has ever done.

"Mortal Throne of Nazarene" has some pretty crushing production. It's very bass heavy, which compliments both John McEntee's and Craig Pillard's riffing styles. This creates a very dark and gloomy atmosphere, one that so few death metal bands could ever achieve. There is also a more raw version of this album, "Upon The Throne of the Apocalypse". Both contain the same songs, but some fans may prefer one over the other. I happen to enjoy both, so take your pick.

Musically, Incantation were coming up with some of their most twisted riffs on this album. Full of tremolo picking and power chords, a lot of these riffs take up a nice amount of the fret board, providing essential dynamics to the song writing. Every time I listen to this album, I get several of the riffs stuck in my head, sometimes ones that I haven't noticed before, but that just makes listening to this album all the more rewarding and worth your time to spin time and time again. The fast riffing halfway through the classic "Ibex Moon" is a great example of some riffs that will get you right away. Songs like the 52 second "Blissful Bloodshower" may go over your head at first, but after a few visits, you'll recognize the riffs much easier, and especially the last lyric of "Alas Sanguine returns to the skies."

As mentioned, this is probably the doomiest album Incantation has ever released. Again, "Ibex Moon" shows this pretty well in the beginning with it's slow and impending beginning. However, the last track, "Abolishment of Immaculate Serenity" is easily one of the doomiest songs the band has ever written. It's certainly not their longest, but it's so gloomy and dark that I doubt Incantation will ever write a death/doom song that powerful again. Craig Pillard's inhumanly low vocals also add quite a lot to that death/doom atmosphere, his performance here is one of his best.

Every time I throw this album on, it never looses its effect. Each song is powerful and filled with excellent riffs that are well placed together, creating contrast and counter points. With tracks like "Ibex Moon", "Demonic Incarnate" and the great "Abolishment of Immaculate Serenity", you cannot go wrong with "Mortal Throne of Nazarene". If you're wanting to hear one of the darkest death metal albums ever recorded, this is it right here. You can't go wrong with it, especially when you have the stellar musicianship of these four guys performing on this record. I would consider this, along with "Onward To Golgotha" and "Diabolical Conquest" to be their three essential records, and anyone that thinks they are into death metal better own all three!

As you might know, I listen to a lot of Power Metal, and I never turn down anything with a catchy chorus and a lot of triumphant energy put into it. It's like a disease that I just can't shake off. However, variety is the spice of life, as they say, and nowhere is that adage more prominent for me than on the visceral slab of dark, sludgy, hellish Death Metal mastery that Incantation vomited upon the Earth in 1994 and decided to call Mortal Throne of Nazarene.

This is a really, really evil album, the kind of thing that makes you wonder if the band sacrificed their souls to the fucking devil to make it, because it just seems so impossible that it could have been made by every-day people. This is the kind of thing you'd expect to find sitting beside some dark, mossy altar in a forest where nude virgins are cut open and sacrificed and goat heads hang on the trees, where perpetrators of whatever ancient craft is practiced swoop about in black, swirling robes that hide any inch of bare skin. Fires burn brightly as the first notes of this album play, illuminating shadows and crevasses all around you that you didn't even know were there in the first place. You feel a chill down your spine as the claustrophobia sinks in, and then you prepare to be crushed to a fine dust by the cataclysmic void of destruction and gloom that is the Mortal Throne of Nazarene.

Inside, the crunchy, distorted haze of the guitars envelopes you in a mass of discordant insanity, with the drums forming an unpredictable, hellish pounding. The whole thing is condensed into a huge, nihilistic mass, changing tempo from slow to fast to midpaced at its own whim and jerking you back and forth on a roller-coaster ride of torment and pain that only the best Death Metal bands can evoke. Everything here is heavy enough to crush you instantly, and it does, lurching towards you in an ancient, mountainous rumble that will make you fear the unknown in an almost Lovecraftian manner that the band executes perfectly. This isn't so much an album as it is a journey through the netherworld of the human soul, a great, dark valley of bone dust and fiery chasms of death that stretches on forever and ever.

Everything on this album gels together into a giant, pulsating mass of evil that just bludgeons relentlessly for thirty-five minutes, and it's good because it creates this amazing palpable, tangible atmosphere, this hellish sort of fuzz that completely engulfs you in a wall of sound that is beautiful in a demonically twisted and horrific way. Craig Pillard's vocals are a deep, anguished growl, and they are great, fitting in with the rest of the album like a glove. They sound like they're rising up from deep inside a crevasse that reaches all the way down to Hell itself. He doesn't even sound human here! You can barely hear him at times, but that's just fine, and I'd wager that's what Incantation were trying to achieve here: he sounds like he's just another part of the unstoppable crawling chaos that is this album.

The songs themselves are insane, contorted aberrations of the mind, twisted into a bizarre form of metallic misery that recalls Death, a dash of Black and a few more of Doom Metal to create a whirling vortex of sound that ends up being a perfect example of how to incorporate atmosphere into heavy music. Every track trudges on with trilling, occultish Death Metal leads that were probably penned by Satan himself, with tempos that vary, as I mentioned before, from slow to fast and everything in between. The songwriting style here is very linear and fluid, never retreading ground that has already been covered and never sticking to any sort of coherent formula between tracks.

This is definitely a Death Metal album, but it just goes so far beyond even what is normal for that genre that it is also something else entirely. For those who look for something in their music beyond what the norm offers, for those who want to reach deep into the depths of depravity and then go a step further, and especially for those who just love great extreme, heavy music in general, Mortal Throne of Nazarene is your holy grail. Seek it out and fear it in all its unholy glory.

Incantation, Holy Incantation! Well, where do I begin the praise for this band? The band that is still keeping the old school flames burning and along with "The Chasm" , "Suffocation" and "Dismember" , they are probably the most consistent band in death metal. But one often tends to overlook the gem that they released way back in 1994 in the form of this album, a year which saw the decline of the golden era of late 80s and early 90s of death metal, a year that saw the decrease in the quality good death metal albums, a year that saw the rise of the radio friendly music, a year that saw the reluctance of fans to accept the same tried and tested formula of death metal. But out of nowhere, these guys bestowed upon us an album of such skull crushing heaviness that stands the test of time and is considered a legendary death metal album of the underground.

Well, the title for this reviews may seem pretty strange but believe me, of all the death metal albums that I have heard yet, this one is the toughest nut to crack. After venturing into old school death metal for more than one year, I finally managed to get my hands on Incantation. They became my favorite metal, let alone death metal, band. Everything they have touched turned to gold, and it seems like John McEntee doesn't know how to write a bad song! I started my journey with this band with the album "Decimate Christendom" and slowly moved on to their previous releases and it took me months to appreciate their classic "Onward to Golgotha" which is supposedly their best release. But even after repeated listens of "Mortal Throne of Nazarene" , I could never enjoy this album as much as I wanted to. I had almost forgotten about this album for a long long time and one day I decided to give it another spin and my whole viewpoint on this album and Craig Pillard in particular changed. I said to myself, "Goddamn it! This has to be one of the most demonic and probably the heaviest album I have ever heard".

This album is the least talked about and is terribly underrated. Well there are a few reasons for this. First, the band's first release tends to attract more attention than other albums and clearly here "Onwards to Golgotha" overshadows this classic. And finally, there is something about this album's guitaring and vocals, that doesn't seem to be easily digestible even for veteran death metal fans.

The album begins with "Demonic Incarnate" , the intro of which reminds you of a typical old school brutal death metal band. For a moment, you tend to think that they will be using the same formula that was used by Suffocation in "Effigy of the Forgotten" . As the song progresses the ultra fast blastbeat drumming, double bass pounding and fast guitar riffs are replaced by mid-paced death metal song structure at around 2.38 in the song. The tempo completely changes and gives way to heavy crushing doomy riffs and slow pounding of the snares and the cymbals accompanied with unbelievably low vocals of Craig Pillard. As almost every reviewer of this album has mentioned the vocal prowess of Craig Pillard, I am no exception. Believe me, its the most low, sick, unintelligible and guttural vocals ever achieved in metal. We all have heard of low vocals of Mortician, Convulse, Skinless, Gorement but this is way way better. They use the above mentioned formula time and again in other songs too. You never know what you will experience next. The shifts from brutal death metal to doom metal and vice-versa is almost orgasmic and keeps the listener guessing and gasping for more!

Following the style quite similar to the vocals, the guitar tone is downtuned beyond belief imparting an incredibly heavy and demonic sound to the album throughout. I have always been a fan of downtuned guitar tones, be it Suffocation, Winter, Disembowelment or Deathevokation, I feel it helps to add a more dark, gloomy and brutal sound to the record. It seems like the band is averse to the use of solos, but take my word for it, you don't feel the need for solos in this record. The album is full of memorable riffs. There is an Autopsy worship here and there, but the guitar riffs on this album can give even "Mental Funeral" a run for its money. The riffs in the middle of the song "Iconoclasm to Catholicism" and at 1.29 in the song "Ibex Moon" are probably my favorite riffs in death metal. They don't last long but they leave an indelible imprint on the listener. The bass riffs are cool too and are clearly audible in the background supporting the vocals and guitar riffs well to create a magical experience.

The drumming needs a special mention here. There are very few albums in metal that use drums perfectly to create an atmosphere. I can count them on my fingers. Winter's "Into Darkness" and Disembowelment's "Transcendence Into The Peripheral" are some of the leading examples. Incantation follow the same principle and use the drumming to perfection to impart an atmosphere of impending doom to devour the listener. This is one feature that was lacking in most of their album including "Onwards to Golgotha" . Listen to the intro of the songs "Abolishment of Immaculate Serenity" and "Demonic Incarnate" and you get an idea about the variety of the drumming used. Whenever Roe is playing in mid-paced sections he tends to use toms and snare to perfection and as soon as he goes berserk on bass drums in the faster parts he changes gears to high-hat-snare-cymbal fills.

The band uses anti-christian lyrical themes and most of the songs are quite short lyrically but there are few classy lines in few songs. Although none of the lines are decipherable while listening to the growls of Craig Pillard, but reading it gives an insight about the band's lyrical skills. Here are a few lines from Ibex Moon.

"Enveloped by somber twilight
Upon the ibex gaze
A vast orgy of profane bliss
A salacious burden into utter paradise
Obliteration of adoration
Indulgence is eternal under the ibex moon... "

The production of the album is top notch for an old school death metal record. It was indeed recorded twice by Relapse records and the result was quite good. Every instrument sounds crystal here, and the best thing is that drums and bass are not drowned among vocals and guitars like in OTG. Although old school fans don't really whine about production values much, but when you do have options no one will complain either. This is one of the reasons why I rate this album better than their previous magnum opus.

I really hate the idea of "My favorite album evaaaaah!" title but if someone forces me to choose one death metal album above all then it would surely be this one. Now, that's saying a lot! Even after more than about 100 listens of this album, it sounds as fresh as ever every time I listen to it and there is always a new riff, roll or "OMG moments" that I discover. If you have probably already heard this album and don't appreciate it much, then I would recommend to give it multiple listens before discarding it as "just another death metal release" .

I have recently ordered this album and it will be a diamond in my collection. You can get "Upon The Throne of Apocalypse" too which is basically a re-released version of the album with reverse track order.

Highlights - Ibex Moon, Abolishment Of Immaculate Serenity, Blissful Bloodshower (it lasts just for 51 seconds but delivers one of the most brutal death metal songs you would have heard), Demonic Incarnate.

I bought this album in HMV, for the sole reason that anything remotely obscure is usually exiled from their long rows of generic nonsense. Having never listened to Incantation before, I took the word of my web-elders and risked a massive disappointment when I returned home. But alas, the decision to invest blindly paid off, as this album, if I’m being honest, is an admirable example of mid-paced death metal. My very first impression of the band was confused. They were like Autopsy but with less mastery of their instruments. The similarities are all there, their doom metal passages and their sudden bursts of speed and the over-riding quality of the drums but somehow the texture felt completely different.

At first the production annoyed me; though being able to distinguish a rhythm and a song structure, I couldn’t quite get my head around the dodgy black metal feel and the absence of the bass in the mix (truth be told, the guitar tone is so bass-heavy even if the bass was doing some crazy jazz solo, it would still be drowned in the wall of noise). However, as with anything, it grows on you, and as you find yourself anticipating the next note you forget about the little peculiarities. The drums stand out the most, mainly because the guitar riffs are prolonged or re-used so often that the drums are the only means of providing diversity. Roe pounds seven shades of shit out of the bass drum, relays some great and tasteful blast beats and I was also pleased to hear a regular usage of the toms. Nothing spectacular but no one likes a show off.

For lack of a better word, I described the guitar sound in an infantile manner as “crappy” on the first spin. I guess my view hasn’t changed that much since then, because no matter how “OSDM” you believe this album to be, the guitar tone is in fact “crappy”. Played with reduced gain (or on a beginner’s amp), I find it deflating in the sense that it could have been so much better. On the other hand, the band clearly wouldn’t have settled for this if they hadn’t wanted it to be that way. Or maybe I’m naïve. Either way, the music and themes exist in harmony so overall the album works for the best part. It is brutal, gloomy metal that you should definitely check out.

As per usual, the lyrics are presented in the form of a bestial growl, low enough to avoid ridicule and high enough to avoid being a monotonous murmur. As perfect as growling can be, no less. The ensemble of the shady production and the inhuman growl that Pillard unleashes creates an atmosphere of malevolence and a sense of impending doom (which no doubt was the band’s aim from the very beginning). Lyrical themes deal mainly with the band’s reproachful attitude towards Catholicism. I don’t think I need to refer to any specific title as they are all quite blasphemous in the eyes of the devout Christian. Unlike the ramblings of most anti-Christian bands which pass for lyrics these days, Incantation take a more poetic, quasi-mature, black metal stance when writing lyrics. Of course they’re still childish in subject matter and full of unnecessary hatred, but some lines are quite well written. The absence of profanities is admirable also.

“Upon the ibex gaze
A vast orgy of profane bliss
A salacious burden into utter paradise
Obliteration of adoration
Indulgence is eternal under the ibex moon... “

Usually I like music where the artists experiment with ideas that distinguish the songs from each other, maybe a change in vocal styling or an unforgettable crescendo. However, Incantation is no such band. The songs remain unchanged for long periods of time (save the fills where they play a similar riff higher up on the fret board) and you can find yourself either bored or captivated. But there is a time and a place for this kind of music. I found that listening to it while searching for inspiration in song writing has been fruitful to say the least and that’s one of the reasons I rate it highly.

"Mortal Throne Of Nazarene" is the most underrated death metal album ever. The reason is maybe because it sounds so dark and evil, so not everyone can get into it. I can't remember any other album that sounds similar to this.

I'll try to describe it with words, but you can only know how it sounds if you listen to it. The vocals are very low and brutal and they are fulfilling the music perfectly. Music isn't technical at all, but it is not the point here. The main thing is atmosphere and I can tell you that you will hardly find any other death metal album which sounds dark as this one. If you are tired of death metal bands that are just trying to sound more brutal or technical get this album and you will not be disappointed. The production is also great. It sounds very dark and raw, but every instrument can be heard. Even the bass is very audible which is very rare on death metal albums.

My favorite songs are "Demonic Incarnate" and "Nocturnal Dominium" (the best death metal song ever in my opinion), but the others sounds great too. The last song on album "Abolishment Of Immaculate Serenity" is very slow song and it is closing the album perfectly.

I recommend this album to everyone who like dark music, be it death or black metal, or even dark ambient. Enjoy it.

"Slow down, no speed up, slow down, no speed up!" Was most likely yelled at full vocal level when Incantation first practiced 'Mortal Throne of Nazarene'. This heavy bass driven death metal cd reminds me of other notable acts. Just take the speed of Suffocation and add the slowness of Disembowelment and what do you get. Presto Incantation!

Incantation's production is actually loud and audible. The main feature is bass and plenty of it. Between the low vocals, to the ship sinking riffs, to the gigantic demolition hammers we have Mortal Throne's production. The pace on this cd interchanges quite frequently. Ranging from quick blast beats to mid pace sections and to spice it up they throw in some crunching doom riffs.

The main style of riffing would be Pillard/McEntee's tremolo picked parts. Which extend all over the fretboard of the guitar. A common riff will play the same rhythm a few measures and then use higher pitched notes for a fill. Also they change up the jukebox with fresh quarters by utilizing slowed down palm mutes or singly hit power chords in between tremolo picked riffs. And the other side of hell uses single note riffs by diving below your tortured plateau and exceeding to lower plodding depths.

Vocally Pillard hits extreme lows. On their debut 'Onward to Golgotha' he sounds more like Dolan from Immolation. But on Mortal Throne he sounds like a Rahmer from Mortician. For the most part he is rather monotonous. He doesn't really extend to a scream or an "ewwah" to start a riff. Basically it is like a slow moving tank. How it arrives and you hear it coming. The sound being the loudest when passing but also faded when leaving.

The drumming on this one when blasting mainly just adds super amounts of cymbal fills. But when going slower Roe utilizes the toms by adding quick rolls. And also adds double bass occasionally but it isn't his emphasis to do go ridiculously technical.

The best thing about Mortal Throne is it is actually headbangable! Unlike other acts. (I'm looking at you Deranged) Incantation's trick to doing this is by adding slower, mid-paced sections and a fair amount of breaks. So it isn't total continuous blasting. The only other small complaints are the ridiculously low vocals. In some respect it adds an evil and deep vibe to the music. But on some parts, because he just kind of rumbles without rhyme or reason ends up occasionally in awkward places.

"Uncontrollable noise" one might say about brutal death metal. But Incantation proves this "noise" can be put into very productive ways. By creating a single deep heavy sound with variety thrown into a melting pot. And what comes out is brutal death metal with a hint of doom in this early 90's release that shall be the marching drums to your death!


Stand out tracks: Demonic Incarnate, Abolishment of Immaculate Serenity