Review by Sonny for Incantation - Sect of Vile Divinities (2020)

After the opening blister of Ritual Impurity (Seven of the Sky Is One), although I cannot deny that it gets the blood pumping, I feared this would be one of those breakneck death metal albums where the emphasis on battering everything into submission renders it all a blur of indistinguishable, fever-fuelled noise. Luckily after that initial onslaught, the band slow the tempo a bit and the tracks come more into focus and is a far more enjoyable prospect as a result. Second track Propitiation has an extended build-up that reminds me a bit of the intro to Seasons in the Abyss, before exploding into a cracking, throbbing chunk of malevolent death doom. The album then continues with a trade-off between those manic, pummelling, fast-tempo bursts of energy and the hulking menace of the slower-paced doomy sections. John McEntee's vocals are undimmed by time and he still produces an archetypal death growl, despite his fifty years, that many try and fail to replicate.
So, in closing I've got to say that this is a pretty impressive album for a death metal band edging thirty years in the game, showing no dimming of the fire in their belly and a damn sight better than most of their peers have managed for many a long year!