Profane Nexus

If it ain’t broke, annihilate it

dB rating: 8/10

Release Date: August 11, 2017
Label: Relapse

The new Incantation wastes zero time in reminding you why you’re here. Within a minute of opening track “Muse” you’re feeling like that rope in a tug-of-war match between John McEntee’s snarling, implacable guitars and drummer Kyle Severn’s frenetically psyched rhythm section. You know exactly what tension I’m talking about, too, because Incantation have carved out a vast chasm and built an ossuary inside of that very sound. But once inside that familiar realm you notice that this time around Incantation seem somehow more present. And not just in the mix, although they are certainly that. No, it’s something else. Something more than just a clearer production.

Then comes lumbering third track “Visceral Hexahedron,” with its pendulous riffs and its smoldering drums: pure Incantation. The knell keeps tolling on through “The Horns of Gefrin.” But what crawls after that doom-death combo is the perfectly titled “Incorporeal Despair.” This track is either how Incantation show their diSEMBOWELMENT influence, or it’s their spin on “Solitude.”

Forgetting/forgiving the pointless interlude track, Profane Nexus is Incantation’s best material in years. The rather stark Vanquish in Vengeance which killed back in 2012, now pales compared to Profane Nexus‘ arsenal of varied and palpably inspired 42 minutes. And while 2014’s Dirges of Elysium might be one of Incantation’s best albums to date, Profane Nexus is like Dirges returned home from years of conditioning on some harsh, practically uninhabitable prisonplanet.

And this is why Incantation are living gods of underground death metal. Because on their 10th album they sound as ravening as ever—arguably more so. — Dutch Pearce

This review taken from the September 2017 issue. Profane Nexusis available on CD and vinyl from Relapse Records.

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