January 2025 - Feature Release - The Pit Edition

Another month (and year) flies by, which means it's time to select a new feature release for The Pit. As it's my turn to choose, I've selected Invocator's Excursion Demise album from 1991. I'm always on the lookout for great thrash releases that deserve more attention and I think I've uncovered a hidden gem with this album. This Danish band may be little known, and appear to have spiraled badly after its release, but if you enjoy technical thrash metal with death metal leanings (yes Daniel, that's you), you owe it to yourself to devote some time to this release.

It would be great to read what you all think of it either below or in review format.

https://metal.academy/releases/10741

if you enjoy technical thrash metal with death metal leanings (yes Daniel, that's you), you owe it to yourself to devote some time to this release.

To clarify, I enjoy melodic Kawaii thrash with trance metal & melodic metalcore influences exclusively.

if you enjoy technical thrash metal with death metal leanings (yes Daniel, that's you), you owe it to yourself to devote some time to this release.

To clarify, I enjoy melodic Kawaii thrash with trance metal & melodic metalcore influences exclusively.

Now that's something to add to my "unusual metal genre blends" bucket list.

Here's my review:

My earliest encounters with Danish thrashers Invocator came way back in my tape trading days. I’ve always been a huge fan of the more brutal end of the thrash metal spectrum & I was hearing that I needed to check out Invocator’s 1991 debut album “Excursion Demise” as there were comparisons floating around with all of the bands that I was loving at the time. Those comparisons were certainly warranted too with the four-piece outfit's first proper release proving to offer a sound that was right up my alley. Admittedly, I don’t remember placing it on the same sort of pedestal as the bands I would instinctively reach for whenever I needed a brutal thrash fix but I recall it being a very solid second-tier record that ticked all of the right boxes. That experience would subsequently see me checking out Invocator’s 1993 sophomore record “Weave the Apocalypse” which I’d find to be a little less relentless & a touch more groovy. There's no doubt that it's an enjoyable enough record but it didn’t command as many repeat listens & I haven’t returned to it since. Perhaps that’s why I’ve never given 1995’s “Dying to Live” third album a chance but I did check out Invocator’s 2003 comeback album “Through the Flesh to the Soul” shortly after I returned to metal in 2009 & found myself really struggling to connect with it in the same way as I had the Danes' earlier material. It’s been many years since I’ve thought about Invocator now but I have to say that I’ve been really looking forward to revisiting what I consider to be their finest work ever since Ben reminded me of its existence by nominating it as this month’s feature release.

Invocator first formed way back in 1986 at the height of the thrash movement. They’d release a few largely overlooked demo tapes (none of which I’ve heard) before signing with the brand-new extreme metal label that Bathory mastermind Quorthon had created in Black Mark Records. This would see Invocator venturing into Montezuma Studio in Stockholm, Sweden in June 1991 to record their debut full-length under the guidance of Quorthon’s father, an experienced metal producer by the name of Börje Forsberg (or Boss as he was widely known). The result of those sessions was a very raw record that could have been a lot better with a more appropriate production job in my opinion. The rhythm guitar tone is the main issue I have with it as it’s noticeably tinny & thin which limits the heights with which the album has the potential to go.

Invocator had clearly come from a very similar musical background to myself which certainly helps their cause. The material included on “Excursion Demise” sits very comfortably in the same space as brutal thrash titans like Dark Angel, Sadus, Demolition Hammer & Exhorder although the thing that differs from those artists is the ability to create their own sound. You see, Invocator simply sound so much like those acts that it’s hard not to reach for the plagiarism card at times, particularly when it comes to “Darkness Descends” & “Leave Scars” era Dark Angel which Invocator seem to have meticulously modelled their sound on. The claims that “Excursion Demise” is a technical thrash metal record are largely misguided though. There are techy moments here & there but they’re nowhere near as consistent as is required for a tech thrash tag. Neither does the inclusion of the occasional tremolo-picked death metal riff warrant a death/thrash tag. This is straight down the line brutal thrash that doesn’t test the waters in any previously untouched creative space but still does the job very well indeed. I will say that this is likely the reason why I was championing the cause of the other bands I mentioned with Ben & my mates over Invocator as they simply felt like they belonged predominantly in the second tier.

There’s a similarity to a lot of this material with the tempos remaining high throughout & the riff structures regularly drawing upon the same Dark Angel riffs for inspiration. “Forsaken Ones” is probably the track that stands out a little as it is likely the source of those tech thrash associations given that it presents similar attributes to bands like Atheist & Sadus. The guitar solos of front man Jacob Hansen (Anubis Gate/Beyond Twilight/Maceration/Pyramaze) & Jakob Schultz (Maceration) come very much from the Kerry King/Jeff Hannemann & Trey Azagthoth school of showmanship in that there is very little attention given to composing memorable melodies. Instead, the duo simply go for broke with the light-speed shredding & it works really well for them too as Invocator clearly understand how to make a solo into an intensity peak for each track, a crescendo of sorts that sees everything coming together in a chaotic release of energy. Hansen’s aggressive vocals are certainly fit for purpose, siting somewhere between Dark Angel’s Don Doty & Exhorder’s Kyle Thomas, but it’s the drumming of Per Möller Jensen (Artillery/Konkhra/The Haunted) that’s the real highlight here with his relentless, yet controlled, rhythmic barrage keeping things tight & finely honed throughout.

The tracklisting is generally without blemish but the thing that stands out to me the most is that Invocator have chosen poorly when constructing the order of the tracks. You see, the first three pieces are clearly the least impressive of the ten on offer in my opinion & this has perhaps led to me feeling like Invocator were more of a step down from the top tier exponents of their craft than was actually the case. Things pick up very quickly from there though with “The Persistence From Memorial Chasm” & bonus track “Alterations” being genuine brutal thrash classics. I’ll also mention “Inner Contrarieties” as the back end of the album is really very strong which only amplifies the reduced impact of earlier songs like the title track & the previously mentioned “Forsaken Ones”.

Look, if brutal thrash is your thing then you should definitely be checking out “Excursion Demise” as there’s no doubt at all that you’ll get a lot out of it. It could definitely do with a little more originality & variation but if you’re like me then those things are not in any way deal breakers in whether you can appreciate a record like this one. It certainly helps that there’s not nearly enough high-quality brutal thrash in the market to choose from so I’ll always be able to appreciate a release like this one.

For fans of Dead Head, Dark Angel & Sadus.

4/5

I've done my review, here's its summary:

As the thrash metal scene was making its way into Denmark, Artillery was the band making the genre big over there. Whereas on the heavier end of the thrash spectrum, Invocator take on the technical thrash sound of Coroner, Dark Angel, and Sadus with speed and brutality. And you might know a couple of the band members from their later careers; Per M. Jensen as a former drummer of The Haunted and vocalist/bassist Jacob Hansen as one of the most prolific record producers in metal! The heavy side of the band comes from the speed/death metal elements, and in their debut Excursion Demise, many tracks are a fast blizzard with some slight mid-tempo groove. With all that in mind, Invocator knew how to add variety to their speed so that their listeners can breathe. Fantastic hyperspeed riffing is pretty much the key to many of these tracks. My only complaint is about the two long songs in the middle that still have brilliant heavy speedy sections here and there, yet they're a bit draggy and could've been trimmed down, particularly "Schismatic Injective Therapy". I mean, I like long songs, but there should be more dynamics than just solo noodling. And I know how that kind of thing is done, just listen to DragonForce. The soloing should've been more melodic rather than just fiddling with the notes, and it should balance out with the riffing. However, those tracks still rule, and this album is top-notch tech-thrash before its 90s near-extinction and something an extreme metal fan should never miss out on!

4.5/5

Technical thrash?

Here's my review:

There is a lot for me to like about Excursion Demise. In theory at least, those clear Demolition Hammer and Dark Angel influences postively kick down the front door as the album announces its own arrival with a an intensity level touching on nuclear. Everything is frenzied more or less from the off (well once the fade up of the intro lapses), and with a vocal style that I always feel sounds like the lyrics are tripping over the music in some clumsy yet somehow with a rhythmic relationship to the music, things look promising for Invocator early on. The drums also show a welcome presence on the opening, title track. Not technical as such, but interesting enough to be able to mix it up whilst hitting a consistent level of power at the same time, against a mix that does not necessarily sound like it wants to help them at all. I am unsure though as to why the band elected to put in a thirty-two second track instead of just using it as an intro to what they bill as track number three, yet to me it is all clearly one track?? It is not a massive issue but is certainly an early annoyance.

Strong start though it has, Excursion Demise suffers badly from a poor production job on the guitars. The riffs are lacking any power in the mix at all, playing at times as if they are black metal riffs, such is their lack of meat. Conversely, the sonic chaos that I would describe the lead work as being offers a much more scathing and memorable experience for me. It is like the guitars got recorded on a different day inside a barrel with just a couple of holes in it, whilst the rest of the instruments and vocals got done in a studio proper. Whlst I can still put the album down as being overall a suitably frenzied and frantic experience for my metal tastes, the rhythm guitar does ultimately detract from my otherwise positive listening experience here. Only on the excellent The Persistance from Memorial Chasm comes close to being able to overcome these production struggles but if ever there was a case for a remix of an album, Excursion Demise is top of the list in my book.

Still, for me to find an album of this style from the 90's that I had never heard of before (although I recognise their sophomore, Weave the Apocalypse from programming the playlist) is a good enough treat. There are not many albums of this intensity that I discover on a frequent basis. Just as I thought I had swept the decks clean of most decent thrash metal releases from back in the day, Ben churns one up as a feature release to keep me on my toes. I just wish the quality of the production, matched the quality of the music. Whether a conscious effort or not (I doubt it was conscious) it is the main thing that keeps Excursion Demise away from the higher scores range.

3.5/5

Here's my review:

Invocator are a danish four-piece, formed in 1986, although this, their debut album, wasn't recorded and released until 1991. I had never heard of these guys before, so this is my first encounter with them and I must admit I quite like what I am hearing here. Excursion Demise is an album of prime brutal thrash, with the band endeavouring to play the most extreme version of thrash metal that they could. Unfortunately they have been a little hamstrung in that department by the production, which is lacking on bottom end, robbing the riffs of some of the blunt-force trauma they may have possessed otherwise and rendering them more lightweight than they deserve. This lack of riff power, though, forces the drumming more to the fore which, considering just how impressive Per Möller Jensen is behind the kit, is not such a bad thing. His technique is powerful and technical, with an impressive arsenal of percussive weapons up his sleeve. Busy and complex patterns weave together and provide the driving impetus behind the tracks, also bolstering the riffing to some extent.

Guitarist and vocalist, Jacob Hansen, is obviously the main draw here though. His vocal style is a rough, aggressive snarl that is reminiscent of Kreator's Mille Petrozza and well suits the blistering pacing of the majority of the tracks. It is, however, his six-string solos that, along with Möller Jensen's drumming, are the stars of the show. Taking the howling riffs of Hannemann and King and torturing them into ever-more distorted patterns and directions and sprinkling them liberally all over the album's runtime, boosts the violent brutality factor by an exponential factor.

Now I am always one for a good slab of brutal thrash metal and Excursion Demise is indeed a very solid example but, much as I enjoy it whilst it is blasting out of my headphones, there isn't a great deal that sticks with me afterwards, other than an impression of having had my ears sufficiently brutalised for nearly fifty minutes. I am not complaining and I feel that the failing in that respect sits with my lack of technical musical expertise not allowing me to grasp hold of specifics and, consequently, the album's unrelentingly fast-pacing and lack of memorable riffs and hooks only leaves me with a lingering overall impression of it's brutality rather than any specific outstanding moments. Look, this is far from the only album that I view that way and it doesn't prevent me from enjoying it massively whilst it is playing, I just wish I was able to take a bit more away with me afterwards is all.

4/5

Great review Sonny & vey much in line with my own feelings.  Tech thrash or not tech thrash?

Great review Sonny & vey much in line with my own feelings.  Tech thrash or not tech thrash?

For me, no. The drumming, yes. The riffs and solos aren't technical thrash to my ears, though. The solos are tortured, not technical and the riffs and song structures don't scream tech-thrash to me at all.