The Infernal Storm

One of the most problematic in the assessment of Incantation lps should certainly deserve...the just discussed "The Infernal Storm"! And not that the Americans sucked on it or suddenly redefined the style, absolutely not! Simply, there are some changes here compared to "Diabolical Conquest" (and previous albums), which were...hmm...moderately needed and didn't require any more "embellishments"? The whole line-up that had accompanied John earlier fell away, the music lowered a bit from the tone, and the "novelties" did not bring fully satisfactory compensation to put "The Infernal..." on a par with "Diabolical...".

This does not automatically mean that I am talking about a medium or a misfire (well, quite the opposite!). I have the impression that the biggest problem with "The Infernal Storm" is the fact that...this album was released after "Diabolical Conquest"! Due to the prism of the previous album, unfortunately it does not make such an impression as it could have made, especially in the "absence" of that disc in the discography - that I fancy myself that way again. Well, compared to its predecessors, "The Infernal Storm" seems to me to be much less intense and mostly geared towards a gloomy, drifting hellish climate than evil from the deepest depths, brutality and death metal full of rottenness. These last three elements of course still remain in the music of Incantation, but they play a much more distant role than before. Is that okay? Possible - there is some variation here. However, I know that the cleaner sound of the drums (session performed by Dave Culross - very good, by the way) and bass (recorded by Robert Yench) a bit stand out from the dirt and rot emanating from McEntee's riffs and solos, and Mike Saez's vocals does not have as much expression and variety as Daniel Corchado.

However, this is where all my complaints about this release end. Most importantly, on "The Infernal Storm" the advantages dominate. A blasphemous atmosphere, sensible doom metal slowdowns, "sinister" solos, aggressive riffs, no procrastination at faster paces, a monster on the vocal: elements so much desired of them. Well, the "hit list" from this album is quite impressive, as exemplified by "Sempiternal Pandemonium", "Heaven Departed", "Extinguishing Salvation" or "Anoint The Chosen" - which can do a great job live with classics. The result is all the more commendable - even though it does not kick, especially after the effects achieved on "Diabolical Conquest".

Originally on: https://subiektywnymetal.blogspot.com/2021/09/incantation-infernal-storm-2000.html

Okay, maybe Incantation (or at this point just John McEntee) didn’t finish with the session musicians just yet. Surprised to learn, and failed to realize, Kyle isn’t on this record - and it should be the only release he didn’t participate in. Dave Culross replaced him (which you all know his contribution to death metal by now). And joining (or should I say rejoining) John again is Mike Saez as an official member (who you may remember from the Promo demo and he won’t be leaving the band yet) behind the vocals, and Morpheus Descends guitarist Robert Yench picking the bass.

The quality hasn’t changed much with the new and returning band members. The production is even CLEANER than before, the drums sound too crispy and perfect, which is no surprise from Dave, and the bass sounds more technical than ever before in Incantation. Although the band toned down the speed and death/doom elements (meaning this record’s mere heaviness quite overwhelmed these aspects, compared to Diabolical Conquest), The Infernal Storm offers a heavier and somewhat technical approach, thanks to the new members.

The opening song is a prime example of the paragraph above. The band maintains their original sound for the most part, with excellent incorporation and execution of said heavy and technical aspects introduced. You’d enjoy the death growls, guitar tone and fast riffs, explosive bass notes and amazing double bass work in the second song, creating more grooves. Skipping to the last two songs, you’ve got some ravishing “apocalyptic” riffs and double bass work, as the title suggests. Apocalyptic Destroyer of Angels is short, but it does the job. You’ve got a few similarities with the last song, being yet another horror-like - fast-riffing Nocturnal Kingdom of Demonic Enlightenment. For a closing song (at least for the original tracklist), it shreds and you couldn’t ask for a better one, despite the band’s few predecessors of having one long, doomy closing songs.

Unfortunately, The Infernal Storm is one of those records you only get to listen to the best parts from the beginning and the end separately. The rest of the songs are simply the stuff you’ve already heard from Incantation and they pale. They’re unnecessarily long, for an otherwise sonic and technical performance. At least the cover of Slayer‘s Hell Awaits sounded better for some compensation, but not enough to compensate for the original material on this record. Overall, while it sounds short - and for its “glorious” shortness sounds amazing, the band stretched it for its kind of death metal composition. So do yourselves a favor and skip the four middle songs since Incantation evidently produced better death-doom material than this.

It's hard for me to overstate how much I love Incantation. They've been my favourite band since I was a teenager. With the release of their 11th full length this year, I've found myself diving into the depths of their discography - not exactly a rare occurrence for me. During this time, I've found myself listening to their fourth, and perhaps least talked about album, "The Infernal Storm." I used to consider this album my least favourite of theirs, but I never thought it was a terrible record. The fact it's sandwiched between two of their better albums is likely why this record is so underrated.

Incantation's lineup has always been unstable, and this album was probably recorded during one of their most unstable periods. They released "Diabolical Conquest" in 1998 after relocating to Cleveland, and that album is often cited as a favourite of many fans, including myself. When it came time to put together a follow up record, Kyle Severn was no longer with the band due to substance abuse issues. I feel this is the biggest factor as to why most fans overlook this record, and John McEntee himself states this is his least favourite due to the rushed development of the recording.

There's nothing that really stands out as bad about this record. The production sounds great, as the band found themselves at Mars Studio once again with Bill Korecky as their engineer. So in terms of audio presentation, it certainly sounds like an Incantation LP. The band's line up sees the addition of Rob Yench (of NYDM legends Morpheus Descends) on bass/lyrics, and Mike Saez (of Deathrune, a demo band from NY) on guitar/vocals. These two members both have a couple songwriting credits alongside McEntee (with Saez writing an entire song himself), which fit fairly well into the Incantation sound, but are also different enough to give this record its own identity. Likewise, Saez has a vocal style that works perfectly for evil death metal - there's a reason they brought him back as a session vocalist on the next record!

As I alluded to earlier, Kyle Severn was absent from the recording of this album, but he does have a songwriting credit on the closing track (which you can hear an earlier version of on the '96 promo). In his place is Dave Culross, a well known drummer in the US death metal scene. According to the liner notes of the 2015 reissue LP, he was brought in fairly last minute, and they didn't spend much time with him working on the songs, but he does a fantastic job all things considered. That being said, there are definitely some parts and transitions that make me wonder what they'd be like if they had time to develop them with a drummer a little more. I can only imagine how Severn's playing would alter some of these songs, but that doesn't take away from the fact there's no shortage of killer riffs to be found here.

If "The Infernal Storm" was released by some new death metal band, I think it would probably have a better reputation. It has plenty of evil tremolo riffs and crushing doom sections like you'd expect form Incantation, but it also has some parts that probably would've sounded more in line with their discography had their defining drummer been available. With that in mind, this album has aged well for me, and I am more inclined to put this record on than some of their 2010's material. It's no "Diabolical Conquest," and it's also no "Blasphemy," but it still satisfies as far as death metal is concerned. Hell, half of these songs ended up on the live album they did a year later, which includes Severn on drums, so it's not like they put out a dud. "Blasphemy" sounds more like a proper follow up to "Diabolical Conquest," but "Infernal Storm" shouldn't be overlooked!

After seeing a huge amount of praise for Incantation I decided to rescue "The Infernal Storm" from the bargain bin at my local Disc Replay. After listening to a couple of tracks I put it away for a year and never listened to it again.

Then I grew up.

This CD is a little hard to digest. It's an intense, dreary, and complex album, in that you won't find your standard Verse-Chorus-Verse patterns here. Songs tend to twist, turn, slow down, speed up; and if you aren't paying attention you might forget where you've been or what direction the particular song is going. The guitars rely mostly on tremelo picking, and by doing so, much of the album has a very dark, atmospheric feel. The drumming is mostly blastbeats, and the vocals are all deep growls. If you were to put those all together, you might imagine a very destructive, pummeling album, but that quite simply isn't the case. "The Infernal Storm" is relatively laid back, much darker it is than agressive. There are many long and musical passages demonstrating some great songwriting. SOlos are well placed and by no means in excess.

If there was to be any criticism of this album, it would be the vocals. While Mike Saez is a capable vocalist, his performance on this album was much too restrained for my taste. It lacks feeling and depth, for which he makes up for with clarity. His performance lacks conviction, as if he were holding something back. And with that, the impact of the lyrics suffered. I would have prefered much more variance in his approach, but, that's not to say his performance doesn't fit the music.

Tracks to check out: Anoint the Chosen, Heaven Departed.