Diabolical Conquest

“Diabolical Conquest” is the third studio full-length from Incantation. An 8 track beast of pure death doom masterwork. Now down to only 3 members, and without the voice of Craig Pillard. The band doesn’t let that stop them from putting out an insanely strong album that is just as good as the previous 2 Incantation albums. This is a very dark, heavy, and nasty record that leaves no prisoners. Taking what worked with previous releases and expanding on it, this time with a better production. All of these things makes “Diabolical Conquest” one of Incantation’s best albums.

Right away I once again have to praise Miran Kim’s unique and bizarre artwork for the album cover. I can’t tell what the fucks going on it in. But just like with the last two albums “Onward to Golgotha” and “Mortal Throne of Nazarene”. The album cover immediately drew me in. It goes well with creating the extremely odd and dark atmosphere this record has.

The production on this album is noticeably better than the previous offerings from Incantation. Everything is much more upfront rather than low and muddy. The vocals are also louder and not as low as Craig’s vocals once were. The mix makes the guitars more nastier and more powerful, the bass also is mixed well and flows well with the guitars. Especially during a more tremolo-dominated part. And the drums sound absolutely filthy and head smashing. The more upfront and loud mix makes everything more transparent and crunchy. The band mastered both raw/muddy sounds with the early work, and a more smooth and crisp mix here.

Musically this is Incantation. This is 45 minutes of pure blasting hell. It’s feral, aggressive, ruthless, and very rhythmic. The longs drag on for longer, which lets each song breathe in their complexion. Which is another element of this album I like. Each song is very interesting and intricate while remaining ungodly brutal. This album utilizes blast beats and the faster sections of things a lot here. But when this album gets doomy it gets very DOOMY. The songs have a great mixture of these riffy beats and the more darker slower moments. Everything flows perfectly and doesn’t sound rushed or sudden.

Vocally this record is drastically different than other releases. Daniel Corchado handles vocals now as well as both guitars and bass. His vocals aren’t as deep or guttural as Craig’s vocals are. However, he sounds absolutely feral and aggressive here. Balancing a lot of raspy growls with the more guttural tone really well.

His guitar and bass work is also fantastic. This can also be said for the brains of the band John McEntee who is the other guitarist. Daniel’s and John’s guitar work is nothing short of brutal. There are a lot of fast-picked tremolos and slow riff sections that drag your face through the glass. You get some more rhythmic and groovy chugs here and there as well. And you get some very slow and dark passages as well. There are sections of doom here and there in the early part of the album. But it isn’t until you hit the final track that things truly slow down.

Kyle Severn’s drumming is tight and very frantic. His blast beats and mid-paced double bass sections are very pulverizing. They’re very precise and will make your ears bleed with how loud and fast they get. There’s a lot of variety as well, especially in the more doomy areas. Here he uses a lot of fast and slow fills, while also dragging your face through concrete with some slow double bass.

Just like anything else in Incantation’s early work the songs are extremely memorable and are hook-laden. The opening song “Impending Diabolical Conquest” is one of my favorite songs by the band. It’s got a wide variety of evil tremolos and some head-banging grooves in the mix. “Etheral Misery” is also very aggressive and builds up to the final track well.

That final track is an absolute doomy and brutal monster entitled “Unto Infinite Twilight / Majesty of Infernal Damnation”. This a great closing track. It begins off very slow with these dark and low guitar riffs and builds on the atmospheric elements. And for the most part, it drags on with these slow and doomy elements, with it speeding up here and there. But for the large majority of the song, it’s very doomy and evil. For a 16-minute song, Incantation managed to combine each element of the album into one song. It’s got the doom elements, the brutal side of things, and the overall ominous atmosphere.

“Diabolical Conquest” is a beast of an album. That still holds up today as one of Incantation’s best albums. Does it beat the previous 2 albums for me? Personally, no this album doesn’t. But regardless this album is a fantastic slab of evil doomy death metal. That deserves tons of recognition and praise. If you want something extremely evil and doomy. I can’t recommend this album enough. A fucking amazing album from start to finish.

If you ever thought to yourself "pure death metal", but couldn't quite define it as there are so many sub-genres, there's a very good chance giving this album a couple of listens should convince you Incantation are just that. Not that they don't have a specific color and flavor to them, as category-wise they're of course somewhere within the sludgy and blasphemous kinds. But that doom metal element for instance, among the various influences on this, is there to serve the greater purpose of generating the most vicious, mighty and insidious form of death metal. It's terribly dark; grim if not agonizing when at minimum pace; and procures a sense of terror rather than mere aggressiveness. The blast beats don't simply accompany tremolo riffs as erratic as a nest of pissed off wasps; they aid the music in reaching a climactic sinistry, hellbent on making its point of an ill destiny awaiting.

The guitar lows bring a gruesome dimension to the whole, with the vocals pouring out an equally potent acrimony, as if in resignation towards the world and convinced its demonstration of sacrilege in music is the only truth. The cover art mirrors that dark vision built up sonically, like an aberration shaped through impressions of angelical eminence and Hell, a sort of ambiguity of heavenly high and infernally low pulling apart at the same time. And the music ends up being like Man: torn between above and below, a creature conflicted and deeply tormented. The pinch harmonics bear all the excruciating agony, and the rapid blast beats provide that lift to the chaotic fret-work and its dramatic melody, producing during the better moments a form of exalted fury. The setting feels subterranean, like the barren rocky desert of Purgatory; forgotten by everything and everyone; and yet, there's a sense of elevation here, of the music rising above the dusty ground, and an affliction buried at the core of it.

This album loves skipping the customary introduction and jumping straight into the maelstrom of blasphemous anguish, spearheaded by blasts or full-on sixteenth note double kick assaults. Some tracks almost sound like they're too much at times, but in the right way. It's like "OK guys, for goodness' sake, could you just maybe relent ?!" but anyone thinking this would be a stroll-in-the-park death metal affair are in for perhaps more than they can handle, and might need to return to it before dismissing it as a one-dimensional piece of boorish music. There's something interesting behind this stuff, and it takes a bit of re-training in the case of a listener disconnected from total death metal like this.

Unfortunately, for this style it's very difficult to remain entirely focused the whole time. The grave and fanatical death metal guitars lifted by the imperious blast beats during the more inspired moments eventually become a diligent shift at work. In other words, this kind of stuff needs to be impeccable all the way through, introducing and then maintaining a high standard of composition, to claim the idealistic hegemony it appears to be aiming for - which to be fair, is what all bands should be aiming for. But on the other hand, heads-down death metal in and of itself, is a respectable deed. There is no heads-down reggae, or heads-down much else at all really, and the demeanor this album establishes is one of a necessary cathartic effort to endow the music scene with its ugliness.

Incantation is brutal death metal, and this colossal beast of an album is one of the most terrifying, brutal, and punishing things ever put on tape. Diabolical Conquest, so it goes by, is a monstrous record that can only be matched by two other BDM (brutal death metal) albums, both of which will also receive a perfect score from me. What makes this album even more special is the fact it was performed and written by a trio! How three people could put their minds together and create such a stunningly dark album is beyond me, but that's why Incantation is one of the best death metal bands of all time.

Although all three members played a part in songwriting, John McEntee is really the brains of this operation. For this album, his role is guitar (he'd assume vocal duties about six years later), and man does he come through with a slew of chunky, barbarous riffs that link perfectly with the blast beat drumming. Everything about this album sounds like pure anguish in sonic form, like the soundtrack of being dragged down to Hell. Even when McEntee (and Daniel Corchado, who always plays some guitars on this album, along with vocals and bass) throws in some higher notes and fiddles with some rapid pentatonics, it still feels evil. And, of course, Incantation mastered the art of when to slow down and when to speed up long before this album, but it's worth noting that their formula is perfected here. "Impending Diabolical Conquest" is fast to kick the album off, because it sets a crushing tone, while "Desecration (of the Heavenly Graceful)" begins slow to lull the listener into a pit of weakness before transposing into an all-out blitz from Kyle Severn on drums. This album is filled with moments like this where the band utilizes changes in pace to catch you off guard before going back to the pummeling.

This album is actually incredible complex and the music behind it is very intricate, something that couldn't be said to this degree for previous Incantation albums. Unlike their fellow New Yorkers and BDM associates Suffocation, who seemed to always have a technical edge to their sound, Incantation finds themselves working with it for the first time on this record. But the results are fantastic, and actually indicative of a new direction for the band who would fare even better in the coming years (especially with McEntee at the helm). Tracks like "United in Repugnance" and "Ethereal Misery" are simply brilliant with a chaotic song structure and technical riffing, it's no wonder why this is regarded as a death metal great.

And then we get to the closing opus, in all sixteen minutes of its glory, "Unto Infinite Twilight / Majesty of Infernal Damnation." This is one of the greatest death metal songs of all time, and not just because it's so long. This monster of a track is a journey, and could be an EP of its own even, through so many different musical passages and instrumental avenues it feels like three different bands came up with it. From the crawling bass lines to the driving guitar riffs to the ear worm pinch harmonics and Corchado's excellent vocal performance, every single thing about this song is brilliant. It's the culmination of every fast and slow moment throughout the album, assembled in a way that tells a story through the music. And the band leaves no stone unturned throughout its sixteen minutes, with a beautiful, detailed lyrics and a very dynamic song structure that injects pace at exactly the right moments. This song alone would grant this album a 100/100, but thankfully the rest of it is just as strong. Truly an exception BDM album and the highlight of Incantation's storied career.

Probably one of the toughest reviews in my reviewing "career". It's so unfortunate for me that "Diabolical Conquest" is a monolithic album, in the size of which is difficult to transfer it to the keyboard - enough not to miss something. What's more, in my humble opinion, the discussed album is one of my favorite death metal albums ever (and certainly, if I tried to point out my top10 from this trend). It's also impressive because the band after releasing "Mortal Throne Of Nazarene" started to have a lot of problems with the line-up (which, unfortunately, will become a routine much later) and they "delayed" quite a lot with the release of the next album (basically 4 years). This could raise concerns about the level, quality and general breakthrough (i.e. its possible lack), but...the renewed face of Incantation in 1998 managed to get out of this task perfectly!

Since "Diabolical Conquest" was mentioned in the context of "the best ever", I think that it's sufficient to describe the format of this release. If not, the encouragement in this case should be an even greater dose of rottenness, brutality and omnipresent evil, which is almost impossible given the intensity of the previous albums! Well, this is how you get to know great bands - they can introduce meaningful changes while maintaining a very high level.

The new quality on "Diabolical..." is mostly the appearance of two people: drummer Kyle Severn, who strongly tweaks more brutal and more doom-like fragments here, and Craig's successor, Daniel Corchado (from The Chasm) - very clearly different from his predecessor. And what's the most interesting, in Corchado I see the most advantages, why is it my favorite album of Incantation. Last time I praised Pillard and his illegible growls, in the case of "Diabolical..." surprisingly it might not be so interesting if he sang here - although this is a force speculation. First of all, Corchado's vocals offer much more expression and variety - more precisely, the vocals range from traditionally low growls to grunts and maniacal screams.

In such a situation, I should also mention each of the tracks, because there are absolutely no weaker ones here - they are all perfect (even "Unheavenly Skies" does not stand out from them, even giving a moment of respite). And to confirm my words, I will mention "Disciples Of Blasphemous Reprisal", "Impending Diabolical Conquest", "Shadows Of The Ancient Empire" and the greatest gem of this release, that is over 16-minute long, i.e. "Upon Infinite Twilight/Majesty Of Infernal Damnation", which, despite its length, never gets boring for a moment - even fascinates from the first seconds, and in the very end there are no words to describe this hell. Nevertheless, it's the best to just check the whole "Diabolical Conquest" and see for yourself how powerful the underground is here - after all, very few have approached this level.

After a few years since the release of "Mortal Throne Of Nazarene", John McEntee's band managed to record an lp, the size of which would be best reflected by the bizarre 200% note. It's true that the band with Daniel Corchado in the line-up functioned relatively shortly (about 3 years), but at the same time it clearly showed that it was possible to beat the previous, excellent cds. It was also shown by subsequent albums, which, although still good or very good, did not manage to jump to such a level as "Diabolical Conquest".

Originally on: https://subiektywnymetal.blogspot.com/2021/09/incantation-diabolical-conquest-1998.html

Ending their session recordings and returning to formality with full-lengths, so to speak, you can say it took four years for the band to release their third record. John & Kyle recruited one Daniel Corchado for his only Incantation record, coming from the old school Cenotaph and the great The Chasm. Whatever he created with these bands, I’m certain he brought his gear on to this record, while also working on two songs lyrically. That being said, when compared to the last two records (and by last I mean the debut and the original Nazarene mix), I noticed the quality is slightly improving.

The death/doom elements are very polished whilst working and, to some extent, developing the speed the band previously focused on. Kinda interesting to start off with the five-minute songs and ending the record with the band’s longest song to date. It had me worried that the last song’s first half would be the song itself, but the second half would be just another long outro. I’m glad it didn’t turn out to be the case. With three returning songs, being the title track, United in Repugnance (which was originally recorded in the 1997 studio/live record Tribute to the Goat), and Shadows of the Ancient Empire, as well as a short instrumental track and one long death/doom song the band knows how to write best, you’re getting an excellent closure of the millennia with this masterpiece.

The title track is actually the only song I disliked from the band’s 1996 Promo demo. When contrasted to Will Rahmer’s vocals, the song still didn’t do a whole lot to excite me. Thanks to the production, the instruments sound much clearer, accurate, and polished. So it’s not like the song isn’t enjoyable, just not the best of the bunch. The next two songs also don’t do a lot of justice to this record, signing off to a terrible start. The fast riffs are chilling and the drum work is blood-boiling, but the overall music and writing don’t really sound anything new other than being a cleaner version of Incantation. Daniel’s vocals in these songs aren’t exactly attractive to my taste, like in the last couple of releases. While his higher death growls, or in addition to hitting some higher notes add more texture to the sound, like Craig Pillard’s approach previously, Daniel turns the band to a more traditional death metal style vocals-wise.

While the first portion of the record is the weakest, the quality and the composition in the latter portion is unbelievably crushing! Unheavenly Skies is a great prelude; starting with the band’s best doom metal instrumental you would hear at the time. Since this is one of the tracks Daniel wrote, I’m sure it’s inspired from his work from The Chasm. It definitely sets for a dredging mood, yet sounds like the fresh of breath air that you needed to inhale and exhale. Though the main structure of this track repeats itself, it still builds up with more instrumental structures that follow.

The rest of the songs, aside from the last song, dominate in the aspect of the speed the band developed on. They’re energetic and very well made across the board. The clean production suits the music in this record for some reason. Daniel’s vocals aren’t actually that bad; though the first three songs, as I’ve already stated were worse. With the latter portion of the record, he delivers the death growls I expected to hear from Incantation. Even his version of Shadows of the Ancient Empire isn’t bad since it’s overall a successfully-written, fast song. There’s no denying how incredible the guitars sound in these songs, but I ought to give most of the credit for the drums and bass. They really stole the show. With that being said, you could say the last song is the main aspect of this record since it encompasses of the speed and the death/doom elements for almost an astounding 17 minutes. Considering the ‘slash’ between the title, I assume it represents two sides or even a conjoined song. One of the band’s most atmospheric songs, and definitely a pinnacle to their resume. Although some sections repeat themselves more often that not, and the song at times sound like it’s overstretching, it’s only for the sake of the atmosphere, and they’re not that repetitively annoying. The slow death growls, the double bass work, and the fast riffs are just as good as the last three songs. I also admire the bass’s heavy notes thrown from time to time, and the song’s structure is really good.

This record is yet to be topped, as far as I’m concerned. Whatever transition or game-changer in the records that follow, especially when different vocalists are involved and therefore different voices, Diabolical Conquest reigns brutal and a rival to other anti-religious and/or satanic death metal bands like Immolation and Deicide and the masterpieces these bands produced in the 90s. And this record just might be the pinnacle from where the Incantation-esque controversy sparked regarding modren bands that are inspired. Overall, I couldn’t recommend this enough, with the highlights of this record being the instrumental track, United in Repugnance, and Unto Infinite Twilight / Majesty of of Infernal Damnation.

Before I start with the interview, I would like to thank my lovely Regy for giving me this album, as well as The Infernal Storm and Decimate Christendom as a gift for my name day. You are the best, honey :)

Now, to the record itself; well, everyone always talks about Onward to Golgotha and Mortal Throne of Nazarene, as being Incantation's most important albums. And probably that's true, since they more or less defined the band's sound, and as there are dozens of bands worshipping this sound, it doesn't take a lot of insight to comprehend the magnitude of the impact these albums had on the evolution of death metal. As such, Diabolical Conquest's beauty is frequently overlooked.

First of all, I have to accept the fact that many fans might have the word "Incantation" inscribed in their minds right next to the words "Craig Pillard". And I also have to accept that Craig Pillard is one hell of a vocalist, easily occupying one place in my "top 5 death metal vocalists" list. But Daniel Corchado (from Mexican death dealers The Chasm) is also a hell of a vocalist. And, to be honest, the production values of Diabolical Conquest would be incongruous with Pillard's sepulchral voice (got the reference? hehe).

Diabolical Conquest, unlike Onward to Golgotha, features a less swampy guitar sound. The tempos are also faster in general, being closer to modern "old-school death metal", like Ignivomous or Dead Congregation, than to old-school death metal itself. Of course, it's not Incantation's fault, since those bands were actually influenced by Incantation's heritage. The most distinguishing feature of Incantation's music, except for the tremolo riffs, is their ability to put those riffs in order seamlessly, which is a quality that most older bands lacked, however interesting they were: Death, Nocturnus, fuck, even Morbid Angel in their debut! Tempo changes are all over the place, and yet the tunes are as catchy as all The Numbers of the Beasts, all the Raining Bloods and all the Painkillers of this world. I reassure you, using tempo changes requires some talent and can be tricky, a fact that becomes evident if we consider that every single Incantation song RULES whereas (almost) every Dream Theater song SUCKS. The fast paced parts create a feeling similar to the one I would get when I was reading Dante's "Inferno" from the Divine Comedy - torture, pain, agony. The doomier riffs craft a "back from/to the grave" kinda atmosphere, the choice of "from" or "to" lying in the ear of the listener. The bass is pounding and even groovy at moments, but don't except Obituary-like groove... Well, Incantation pioneered this kind of groovy feeling in death metal so if you haven't listened to anything by them... die. Finally, the drumming features great variation, ranging from uber-fast blasting to necro levels of slowness. The sound of the skins is almost ceremonial at times.

Now, this very period is dedicated to "Desecration (of the Heavenly Graceful)" for being one of my favoutite Incantation songs, and for being everything Ignivomous stands for before Ignivomous themselves thought about it. Of course Ignivomous is not to be underestimated, they kill.
And this one is dedicated to "Unto Infinite Twilight / Majesty of Infernal Damnation" for being one of my two favourite death metal long-ass beasts alongside Diocletian's "Fortress of the Unconquerable". Thanks for your attention.

The bottom line:
The darkness is there. The bleakness is there. What puts this album apart from the earlier stuff of the band? Well, it's the fact that the overall impression this album makes on the listener is 2% less heavy and 2% most edgy than the earlier efforts. Is it worthy of your attention and time? Totally. The 1% minus is for the 30 seconds that I need to get in the mood of Unheavenly Skies, being the least special thing on the whole album. But fuck that, it's probably just me. Incantation is the best death metal band of their generation alongside Immolation and this album is in a store, waiting for YOU to go and buy it. And then it will beat your brain to a pulp. Beastly and ferocious. Total respect!

Incantation are somewhat of an institution in the world of Death Metal. Even though their career has been plagued with line-up changes, occasional dips in form and record label wrangles, John McEntee and co. still keep on plugging away with the same drive and uncompromising vision they had from the get go. Most people sing the praises of the band's debut more than any other of their releases, but for me, their 1998 release "Diabolical Conquest" saw them hit the jackpot.

Featuring the talents of The Chasm frontman Daniel Corchado on bass and vocals, "Diabolical Conquest" had all the crushing riffs, throat tearing vocal work and percussive destruction to make even the casual fan of Death Metal sit up and pay attention. Wrapped in a thickly claustrophobic aura, the album has an impressive feeling of barely controlled chaos at times, with razor-sharp riffs spinning and slicing through the air threatening to eviscerate at will. The main thing with Incantation however is their ability to draw the listener in with their powerful atmospheres, which invoke the most dissipated iniquity you could possibly imagine. With "Diabolical Conquest" you can almost imagine a ghostly black arm manifesting from your speakers during playback, reaching towards you with its whispy smoke-like fingers in an attempt to drag you back to whichever malevolent realm it emerged from. Either that, or those weren't paracetamol that I've just taken. But anyway, I digress. Ending things off with "Unto Infinite Twilight / Majesty of Infernal Damnation", it's plain to hear that Incantation penned one of the most devastatingly epic Death Metal tracks ever recorded. Hell, even Vital Remains would blush at the sheer scale of it.

Whichever way you look at it, Incantation certainly got their sound down pat on this album. The force of their attack is as destructively vicious as it ever was, and the overall feeling you get after listening to it makes you question whether the album's blueprint was originally buried in some dark chasm, written in ancient scrolls and inked in virgin's blood. Good shit.

Originally written for www.metalcrypt.com

This is one of those relatively rare albums that I cannot find a single fault with. I am relatively easy to please, and I always judge albums by their aim and in their achieving their aim, but this album I can judge next to other albums, or even alone by itself as being a momentous achievement in metal history. It has been named Incantation’s best, and it is a statement that is very hard to refute. Every song is a classic. Every riff is killer. Not a single moment of this album can be categorized as ‘filler’ material, all of it is absolutely stunning and will hold your attention. The guitars are basically black metal guitars that do not sound shitty and have been tuned down a bit, but still they retain some fuzz and some raw, harsh sounding overtones. The bass is nicely layered into the guitar work. The drums stand out as totally different and are easy to listen to, and the vocals are deep, not so gurgly as just pure Craig Pillard driven insanity, surprisingly not delivered by Craig. But this guy does just as good a job, even if his voice is a little bit different then the original, and judging from the vocal patterns, intended singer. And of course they still stayed with the sound of the old school American vein of death metal, sounding like a more polished version of bands such as Goreaphobia, Immolation, and Rottrevore with a touch of doomishness in the vein of Winter. The classic Incantation sound to which they have stayed true to even to this day. The riffs are a little bit black metal, a little bit doom, and a whole hell of a lot of blasphemous death metal riffage that weighs somewhere around 10, 000 tons!
I am almost compelled to go through each track one at a time and comment on how incredibly awesome all of them are and point out all of the awesome riffs in all of these songs. I am going to pick four, because of their weirdness and as they stand out even on such an album as this where there are, as I have mentioned, no fillers what so ever. The opening track has some of the most solid wall-to-wall riffage off of any Incantation song, which is saying a lot. There is a black metal riff that they bust out, and there is a slow section with double bass pumping some mid-tempo parts under the slow ass riffing. The vocals under the black metal riff make my hairs stand on end. The vocals elsewhere in the song sound like death it’s fucking self.
The instrumental track entitled ‘Unheavenly Skies’ is best noted for the awesome riff in it, it does just consist of variations on this one melody, but the melody itself captures the very essence of death/doom metal. It is melancholy yet not graceful, it is an ugly ass, misanthropic riff, yet brooding and could be categorized as ‘melodic’. The switches in it are very nice and the entire song swallows up your brain.
The next track, which is probably my favorite is ‘Shadows of the Ancient Empire’. This track has rhythmic switches in the beginning and this dense mid-tempo riff which is interspersed with a quicker riff, which has the quality of a prophetic seizure. That riff sounds like the march of the living dead to me, that is always the riff I imagine that happening to. The rest of the song goes on to some awesome mid-tempo chug-chug, and also great double bass parts and some big heavy open chord smash riffing as well.
The last track on the album is sixteen minutes long, and then some. It is fucking retarded. It starts off as a doom track, purely, and then goes on to bring in some layered black metal guitar work, coupled with some pretty technical brakes form the riff itself, and then snapping right back into the doomish feeling vibe, and then when your mind has been put to ease, Incantation bust out one of the fastest riffs on their album!
Some really potent stuff, I highly recommend it. I do believe it to be perhaps their best, but if not, then certainly their catchiest material to date. An absolute classic which does not disappoint, and also will make you shit bricks.

Back in the late 90s, a lot of classic death metal bands from the earlier half of the decade appeared to be falling from grace. This was truly a test of time for a lot of bands, where bands had to either be consistent, or innovative. Incantation chose the former of those two choices, yet was still innovative within their own sound.

What we have here is Incantation's second masterpiece, the first being "Onward to Golgotha". It's not often a band writes one, let alone two, masterpiece albums. Incantation took the framework of their previous works, and expanded on it. With the addition of a powerful line-up, this album was destined to be astounding. Kyle Severn is once again on the kit after his introduction on the "Forsaken" EP, and does an astounding job with his scissor blasts among other drum work. Daniel Corchado (of the Chasm) delivers some evil vocal performances, bass, and fills out the second guitar. And of course John McEntee commands this line-up with his jagged riffing and supreme song writing.

Anyway, let's get on to the actual music. The album features many characteristic parts that make so well done. Compared to previous works, there are more tremolo picked riffs, which twist around diminished scales, which create some very diabolical sounding melodies. Juxtaposed overtop are equally twisted melodies which lay about an octave or so higher, following their own phrasing, yet end up fusing together with the main riff to form a perfect fit. Drums blast through these riffs, enhancing the jaggedness of them. An excellent example of this lies on the opening track's first riff. Riffs like this make up a good part of the album, which turn out to be an excellent basis for the album.

The doom sections on this album are a lot more impending than ever. Kyle Severn really lowers the tempo on the drums and lets the guitars do the talking. This makes for quite the counterpoint compared to the ripping death metal riffs presented next to it. Incantation has always been known for this technique, but they've definitely perfected it here. One can see this technique at it's best on the album's 16+ minute opus, "Unto Infinite Twilight/Majesty Of Infernal Damnation". Although this song is filled with mostly doom sections, one can here many other songs that feature some slower doom parts.

Another technique Incantation uses throughout the album is having one guitar play a crushing, open rhythm where the lead guitar comes in with a diminished melody in between chords. This is extremely effective as it gives a lot of power and contrast within the songs. Again, pointing at the last track, this is done with excellence. The drums follow the riffs in an interesting pattern. Bass drums will follow the lead melody in double bass madness, where the ride cymbal is relaxed, making the open rhythm seem even more open. An excellent juxtaposition.

There are a lot of standout tracks here. In fact, every song has something interesting to offer. "Disciples Of Blasphemous Reprisal" opens up with an excellent riff that makes great use of pinch harmonics. "Unheavenly Skies" has some excellent melancholic phrasing, making it a great interlude. "Shadows of an Ancient Empire" (a song from the "Forsaken..." EP) features a great aggressive drum part where the guitars against it are open, making for an interesting contrast. "Ethereal Misery" features an excellent stop part which is nice and open, and then leads to a groove based riff. The list goes on, this album is full of great arrangements and riffs.

Everything is top notch about this release. I've neglected to talk about the lyrics yet, which also live up to the rest of the album. Although at times they can be brief, they are effective in topics of blasphemy, anti-Christianity, the typical Incantation themes. It's all very fitting to the atmosphere presented by the album, and does the job in conveying its message.

Whoever hasn't heard this album and considers themselves a death metal fan is truly missing out on one of the finest albums ever recorded. Everything from the riffs, arrangements, lyrics, and performances is of excellence. Fans of early 90s death metal will find use for this album, as will fans of modern death metal. The production won't bother anyone either, as it is clear but natural. Get it immediately!

Boasting some new blood on the altar, John McEntee’s conglomeration of death metal blasphemers marches onward, ever onward. I mentioned earlier in my review of Upon The Throne Of Apocalypse that after album's release, the entire membership sans McEntee jumped ship. I don’t know why and I don’t care, only that it slowed the band’s progress a touch. But after a stop gap release with 1996’s Forsaken Mourning Of Angelic Anguish (some new cuts, some old, some covers) Diabolical Conquest found recently added Kyle Severn to the drum seat, and a guest bassist/vocalist in Daniel Corchado, who for all intents and purposes is Mexico’s first man of death metal, having worked with Cenotaph and eventually forming the formidable Chasm. And here he works out just perfectly, added his satanic sermon voice to the Incantation experience.


“Impending Diabolical Conquest” sets the stage for all that is to come, which includes two very unexpected twists in the band’s book of lies. First a semi-melodic, brief instrumental passage titled “Unheavenly Skies,” which is remarkably memorable upon first hearing, and secondly a 17-minute (yes, you heard right) doom-death monster entitled “Unto Infinite Twilight/Majesty Of Infernal Damnation.” As may be expected, this number goes through a number of movements in it’s life span, from super slow, yet oddly melodic (by Incantation’s concept of melodic) opening, into a trudging riff erection, followed by a healthy blasting section, and finally an almost ethereal fade out that lasts for some time. The album’s remainder is prime cut death metal, perhaps “Ethereal Misery” being the finest moment of straight ahead material, and I must stress that once again the sound is in the beautifully disgust filled aural assault we all love this band for possessing.

The band's finest hour? Could be. They haven't topped it yet, and only time will tell if it's in their demonic will to do so.

In my view, Diabolical Conquest stands tall above the bulk of Incantation's subtantial output. There are two very specific reasons for this: the first is the participation of The Chasm mastermind Daniel Corchado, who lends his gravel-laden vocals and excellent basswork, as well as some additional guitar parts and co-writing on a few songs. The second is the existence of the massive, crushing, awe-inspiring 17-minute epic "Unto Infinite Twilight/Majesty Of Infernal Damnation" - a true masterpiece of epic death fucking metal which remains a part of their set to this day. Boasting a much clearer, beefier production than any Incantation album before or since, Diabolical Conquest quite simply crushes all in it's path.

Aside from the enormous aforementioned closing track, there are no real standouts on this album - not that this is a problem, mind you. Incantation has never been particularly concerned with writing catchy tunes which stick in your mind for days on end. Rather, they simply focus on creating solid, no-nonsense death metal, alternating wildly between blasting chaos and leaden, monotone sludge, with plenty of squealing pinch-harmonics thrown in for good measure. That said, "Impending Diabolical Conquest" and "Ethereal Misery" are two songs which stand out a bit - the former being a bludgeoning freight-train of a song which rolls over you with maximum force, and the former starts out in a tremolo frenzy before morphing into a demented stop-start section, slowing things down to a squashing crawl - then back to tremolo madness and blasting to close things out. Otherwise, the last song is the true killer here. Every second of this epic monstrosity is designed to pulverize your eardrums, and succeeds quite aptly at it's task.

Overall, if you were only to own one Incantation disc, this is definitely the one to go for. Their latest offering, Blasphemy, is nearly as good, but doesn't quite reach the stunning heights of brutal insanity they reached with Diabolical Conquest.