Magnificent Glorification of Lucifer

I've always like the idea that after a certain point in a band's career, you can really only judge them against themselves and their previous body of work. Usually after said band finds its niche, its style is when this takes effect. Seeing as by this point, Inquisition had found a sound of their own, it's impossible to not judge this album against their earlier ones.

The problem with Magnificent Glorification of Lucifer is that it sounds the most like it could have been written by another band. Inquisition have an extremely distinct sound, and largely that sound is missing from this album. It's not 100% absent, as I don't think Dagon could write normal-sounding black metal if he sought to, but there are times when the vocals aren't there where it's pretty easy to forget what band you're listening to. And after the knockout one-two punch of the previous albums being exercises in unholy rotting black metal, this one's more like a limp right hook; doesn't really land or do any damage and it's entirely possible you'll forget it not long after.

Too much of this album is in the same vein as "Kill With Hate" from the previous album. Very fast, angry, violent, simple black metal. It isn't really until the third track where we get a riff that truly sounds like Inquisition (that tremolo dun DAH dun DAH dun DAH one) and that's really not okay. Inquisition's riffing style is by far the most important aspect to their sound, even above Dagon's hellcroaks. The thing with a track like "Kill With Hate" is that it's super effective in moderation. That song works on Invoking the Majestic Throne of Satan because it stands out so much from everything else. Were it on an album featuring material with the same aim, its effect would diminish greatly.

The outro is so fucking needless and self-indulgent that it takes off 10+ points from the score here. On later pressings it seems to have been shortened which I can only imagine is because they actually sat down and listened to it. I'm a huge believer in treating albums like a solid, continuous piece of art. I don't skip intros/interludes/outros nor songs I don't like. I've only ever managed to make it through this outro once. I don't even have it on my phone, and I have entire albums on there just for one song. The outro is just annoying awful crap and I hate it.

It isn't all bad though. "Of Blood and Darkness We Are Born" features possibly the happiest riff Dagon ever wrote. "Dark Mutilation Rites" shows the band trying out a black n roll style and it really fucking works and is easily the best song here. The title track features some really cool melodies. "We Summon the Winds of Fire (For The Burning of All Holiness)" features a nice little dissonant riff that the band would later utilize an improved version of on "Cosmic Invocation Rites." The last track, "Eternal Loyalty to Our Lord Satan" features a very majestic, soaring lead.

The production sounds great. It continues the overly distorted style of the previous album but with a cleaner recording. Things are audible, yet raw. With the increase in clarity, the heat of the previous album leaves. In the end this album has a distinct sound to it, and it's such a shame the material wasn't up to par.

If this were a different band, this review would be entirely different. Magnificent isn't a bad album. Were it some other band's debut, I'd probably give this something in the 80s. The problem is that for what Inquisition had done before (and has done since), this just feels uninspired. Maybe it's the two year turnaround, their shortest yet, that didn't give the songs enough time to ferment. Maybe they didn't have time to write enough a-game material. Maybe they just crapped out a turd. And really, it happens with every band; sometimes you just end up with a bad album. The fact that this is the worst Inquisition album tells you how truly great everything else by this band is. But at the same time, this is the worst Inquisition album by a considerable margin. As you might imagine, I basically never listen to this when every other album by the band is orgasmically good. Can't win 'em all, I guess.

These days Inquisition is known for their unique ability to create compositions that bring a tiny taste of the universe into our homes, but there was a time when an album by this band was a far simpler and cruder affair. Magnificent Glorification of Lucifer is such a case.

Even before you get into the music, the record is as conspicuous as it can be about its intent. From the cover art to the album's fitting title, it is obvious that this is going to be a collection of hymns to Lucifer. And surprise surprise, that's exactly what it is. In a sense, it's trying to be something more than just a black metal album, and it succeeds to a certain degree.

The music itself is nothing to write home about. The riffs range from average to boring and it doesn't help that there's only 1-3 of them in each song. The slower tempo riffs work better here, since the faster ones lack any serious technicality or real vigor and aggression to make them engaging. However, the somber, funereal, melodic lead guitar work on tracks like "Of Blood and Darkness We Are Born" and "Eternal Loyalty to Our Lord Satan" compliments the doomy riffs just perfectly and makes the songs clear highlights. This combination creates an atmosphere that is cold and eerie, which is just what I would expect from a well-crafted hymnal, ritualistic, Satan-praising black metal album. It's not as consistent as I would like it to be, but when this album works, I can't help but think of corpse paint, hooded cloaks, and forests in the night. Fuck. Yeah.

I have to commend the production for helping create the atmosphere. At first I didn't care for it, but this album grew on me as a whole, and part of that had to do with the production. I found the vocals annoying and distracting at first, but after I started listening to the album for what it is instead of what I wanted it to be, I realized that they fit well. They're humble and hypnotic, appropriate of a ritual, as opposed to the more vitriolic Abbath-esque vocals we come across in Inquisition's later works. The only exception is part of "Under the Black Inverted Pentagram", where the reverb is just irritating and it only serves to almost ruin an otherwise powerful song.

The lyrics are of the ritualistic and worshiping variety for the most part, except for "Crush the Jewish Prophet", which features a strange shift to a polemic and persecutory approach and serves no purpose other than to make the listener wonder what the fuck it's doing on this record. This is as filler as it gets, and I really think the album would have been better off without this song. It may have been halfway decent for another Inquisition effort but it is completely out of place on here. Apart from this one song, the lyrics fit the narrative. They're not very poetic, but they're direct and unapologetic, just like the music. Simple yet strangely effective:

"Lord of eternal might I sing to thee
I raise my torch and worship thee
King of all kings I swear to thee
Forever I shall be loyal to thee"

The sheer honesty, submissiveness, and crudeness of this record is just appealing to me for some reason. It's so far removed from my reality that I can't help but be intrigued by it.

This album grew on me for sure. When I first heard it I expected to experience the same cornucopia of cosmic riffs and lyrics one can find in post-2010 Inquisition. Boy, was I wrong. I dismissed it after a few listens as a weak album, and I would have given it a much lower score if I reviewed it a few months ago, but I gave it another chance, and I'm glad I did. This is a different Inquisition, but given time and a certain mindset one can uncover the shards of brilliance hidden in this audiobook of Luciferian hymns.

Highlights: "Of Blood and Darkness We Are Born", "Eternal Loyalty to Our Lord Satan", "May the Rays of Full Moon Shine Upon Us" (2015 Season of Mist bonus track)

Though it cannot be said that Inquisition have ever stagnated at a point in their career, they have been remarkably consistent in their work. They're the example of a group that knew precisely what they wanted to do from the start. On a jaded day, I might call their albums (even individual songs) variations on a singular theme: ritual grooves, croaked vocals, and deceptively catchy riffs. Even if Inquisition have drawn their sound from a relatively narrow wavelength, they've written some very memorable tracks nonetheless. And, while we're at it, how many USBM bands can you think of with a truly distinctive sound, identifiable within seconds of hearing it? Rest assured, Inquisition have found themselves a tidy niche, and it's all to their credit they've stuck with it to the well-oiled behemoth they are today.

There is contradiction to be found in a samey sound producing individually memorable tracks; that's a gripe I've had with virtually all of Inquisition's work, and the same can be said for Magnificent Glorification of Lucifer. Following a particularly solid debut with Into the Infernal Regions of the Ancient Cult, Inquisition re-treaded the same steps, advancing themselves finally with Ominous Doctrines of the Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm a decade later. That's not to say that the three albums Inquisition released in the time in between were unworthy. As I've said, they've always been consistent. Magnificent Glorification of Lucifer achieves what it sets out to do, and even if it feels like a less stellar replication of the debut's atmosphere, the album doesn't end without leaving some individually excellent songs in its wake.

Is there much value in describing Inquisition's sound at this point? Not only are they as well-known as USBM gets; their distinctive sound has been a staple of each one of their albums to date. Besides, a quick trip to the YouTube comments section has all of the empirically cited criticism you could ever want for their sound. Dagon's croak is a mark of contention of every Inquisition album, and Magnificent Glorification of Lucifer is no different. Although the riffs here are still relatively distinctive, I don't think Magnificent Glorification to Lucifer would have the same effect if it weren't for that divisive voice. Like King Diamond, the unique strangeness of the delivery offers listeners a choice. They can brush it off as a silly joke, or they can decide to interpret it as a serious expression of darkness. Neither option's necessarily wrong, but adherents to the latter will get far, far mileage out of their listening.

Dagon's vocals never needed any time to appeal to me. I was immediately taken back by the spooky Otherness. If something has been slow to grow with Magnificent Glorification of Lucifer, it is the "variations on a theme" mentality Inquisition take to their songwriting. Though not a problem in of itself, it makes it quickly apparent which albums of theirs are the best, and which ones aren't as much. Unlike the debut, which startled me for its raw energy and relative "newness", or the post-2010 material, which tempers the familiar song structures with new technical heights, Magnificent Glorification of Lucifer feels like an incredibly standard, unassuming album for the guys to make. Like the other mid-period records, this one earns its keep by dishing out a few particularly glorious tracks. "Crush the Jewish Prophet", "Under the Black Inverted Pentagram", "Eternal Loyalty to Our Lord Satan" and "May the Rays of a Fullmoon Shine Upon Us" (off the recent digital bonus edition) sound a cut above the rest.

If Magnificent Glorification of Lucifer isn't such a memorable album, it's not because their natural quality isn't here. Really, if consistency works to Inquisition's favour on the whole, it doesn't put the lesser albums in such a good light. The classics from this album aren't to be missed, but there's not too else to set this album apart from the band's superior works.

Artist: Inquisition
Album Title: Magnificent Glorification of Lucifer
Label: No Colours

This is the third full-length from Inquisition, a Columbian band (though currently based in the USA). They play solemn, ritualistic black metal.

The sound here is exactly what one would expect from Inquisition. The guitar alternates between rhythmic backing patterns and high-toned accent parts. There's a strong sense of integration here, as the guitar seems to flow from one to the other, without a single awkward transition. There are also some distinctive solo parts here and there. The drums are great, as well. They really shine during some of the slower passages, like the middle section of "Crush the Prophet", but the drumming here is also capable of speed. The quick-march drum pattern in "Dark Mutilation Rites" is the best thing about the song, for example.

Then, there's the vocals. I usually devote just one paragraph to all of the instruments together, but Dagon's vocals are so damn good that they deserve to be mentioned on their own. The main style is a languid, slow sort of croak. It sounds almost uninvolved, as if the band are supremely confident in the effect of their invocations, so much so that more active vocals are unnecessary. The pace of Dagon's delivery fits perfectly with the music, strengthening the ritualistic feel of the album. The second vocal style has an otherwordly, quivering quality to it. I'm not sure if this is achieved via effects, other than the obvious echo, but it's definitely a cool sound. This style is used sparingly, as a counterpoint to the main style, but it's good enough that it could also stand on its own. Inquisition have two unique vocal styles, whereas most bands can't even claim one!

Inquisition's songwriting is equally original. The band's distinctive sound hasn't changed, but this new album shows a good deal of evolution within that sound. "Invoking the Majestic Throne of Satan" was a bit sterile, but "Magnificent Glorification of Lucifer" has a more dynamic, energetic feel to it. The truly impressive thing is that the band has integrated these dynamic melodies without destroying the slow, inevitable atmosphere that they're known for. "Winds of Fire" and "Impaled" are a good deal more aggressive than anything from "Invoking...", but this doesn't seem to interrupt the flow of the album.

Much of the time, "ritualistic black metal" may as well be a synonym for "boring guitar drone with not much emphasis on the METAL", but Inquisition is definitely a band that understands the value of a memorable riff. The three-song sequence of "Crush the Jewish Prophet", "Under the Black Inverted Pentagram", and "Of Blood and Darkness We Are Born" is a perfect example. Each song is distinctive, catchy, and heavy as hell. These songs couldn't be more different: the cold, direct blasphemy of "Crush...", the weird, unsettling rhythm of "Under the Black..." and the triumphant courage of "Of Blood and Darkness...". Just one of these songs would have been an excellent cornerstone for the album, so the sequence of all three is powerfully striking. The rest of the album is just as memorable. The songs range from calm and measured ("Magnificent Glorification of Satan", "Eternal Loyalty") to vicious ("Impaled"), and every moment is completely convincing. Discounting the boring outro, there isn't a bit of filler on this album.

"Magnificent Glorification of Satan" can't quite de-throne Inquisition's classic, "Into the Infernal Regions of the Ancient Cult", but it comes much closer than I'd ever expected. This album makes "Invoking..." sound boring by comparison, and that's no easy task. Inquisition's new one is a must-have, easily one of the best albums of 2004. Highest recommendations.

Standout tracks: "Crush the Jewish Prophet", "Under the Black Inverted Pentagram", "Of Blood and Darkness We Are Born"

Review by Vorfeed: http://www.vorfeed.net