Review by Sonny for Inquisition - Veneration of Medieval Mysticism and Cosmological Violence (2024)

Inquisition have a distinctive sound, that's for sure, which is principally defined by Dagon's unique vocal style. His is less the role of traditional vocalist and more of narrator. With his virtually spoken-word, croaking approach he comes across like some twisted hobgoblin, perched atop a mossy boulder and expounding his cosmic satanic philosophies to any passing ear. Obviously this aspect of the duo's sound is as divisive as it is unique, although as I have become more familiar with it, it has become more of a welcome departure from the norm and less a source of irritation. In fact, on the couple of brief occasions when he resorts to clean vocals, Dagon's voice sounds even more weird and quirky than when delivering his usual croaks (Secrets from the Wizard Forest of Forbidden Knowledge, for example).

There isn't any real noticeable departure from their earlier material here, along with the vocals the duo have retained the lo-fi aesthetics and the swarming, buzzing guitar tone of their earlier work, along with the cosmic, satanist themes that they have explored throughout their nine full-length releases. The duo introduce some synth-driven overlays onto a couple of the tracks which I don't think particularly bring much worthwhile, sounding misplaced and robbing a track like "Memories Within an Empty Castle in Ruins" of it's momentum in my opinion.

I suppose Inquisition could be accused of repeatedly ploughing the same blackened furrow, thus making each subsequent release less and less relevant, but I think that their sound is sufficiently singular as to justify their approach, seeing as very few acts sound similar. It isn't like they are endlessly regurgitating tropes copied from someone else's work, but it is more a case of sticking with a unique-sounding formula and using it to explore the themes they find personally interesting. I suspect I would have enjoyed this more without the synths, but I was still swept along by it's distinctive, blasphemous atmosphere and it's memorable riffs, such as that on "Infinity is the Aeon of Satan", which even, dare I say it, bordered on the "catchy". If you are already familiar with the Colombians then I don't hear much that could change your mind about them, if you don't like them now then this won't convert you and vice-versa. For me, I would say to them "Lay off the synths" then all would be AOK.