Review by Ben for Incantation - Onward to Golgotha (1992)

I've listened to this album several times over the past few weeks. I have to say that the first few times I did, the album just kind of passed me by without really grabbing me. That may seem strange, particularly as this is rather brutal death metal with a great, heavy production. How could an album so intense not keep my attention and allow my mind to wander? In hindsight, I think there are two answers to that question. Firstly, there is virtually nothing catchy about Onward to Golgotha. No massive hooks that you'll be humming through the day. The lyrics are indecipherable for the majority, so you won't be singing along any time soon. It's crushing, oppressive music that relies on pitch black atmosphere and low tuned, damn heavy musicianship. Secondly, I think I found something rather comforting in all this morbid filth. I've found myself pondering life and all its intricacies while Incantation give me a good sensory battering simultaneously. Maybe it's the nostalgia of a time when death metal was much more exciting. When overproduced clones hadn't all but destroyed the scene.

Anyway, I'm glad I kept at it, as Onward to Golgotha is a massive album and once given the time, will start to connect as it was intended. The band that comes to mind the most is Immolation, particularly the dark twisted riffs and extremely low death growls. But Incantation also have a doom element that shows up throughout some of the longer tracks that almost sounds like funeral doom in its oppressive nature although it never reaches that level of plodding minimalism. Tracks like Christening the Afterbirth remind me of death metal era My Dying Bride with all the guitar squeals, but Incantation is a far heavier affair than those British legends. In the end, I highly recommend this album to any old school death metal fans out there and look forward to checking out some of their other earlier albums. Highlights for me are Rotting Spiritual Embodiment, Christening the Afterbirth and Deliverance of Horrific Prophecies.