Incantation releases a massive album of rarities to celebrate more than thirty years of menacing metal, Tricennial Of Blasphemy.

Incantation came together in 1989, formed by John McEntee and Paul Ledney. McEntee has stayed with the band throughout its entire history, seeing a dozen full-length albums come to fruition, along with a rugged smattering of splits and EPs. Along the way, some of the tracks have become rather obscure and hard for fans to find. Tricennial Of Blasphemy solves that problem. It is a three-record / two-CD set that houses thirty-one songs, including a couple that have never been published before.

The unreleased first. “Pest Savagery” is grinding, punishing death metal. Unhallowed growls and charging rhythms reign. “Ordained by Night’s Will” has a good cook and a nice groove. It breaks out periodically into a blitz, and there are downshifted tempo moments, too. There is a lot infused in these four minutes. Either song would have fared well on an Incantation album, so it is a shame they never made it on one – until now.

After these two openers, there is a long list of songs from disparate places, like long gone compilations and the Decibel Magazine flexi-released song “Degeneration,” that would take some time to run down and, without this new album, could easily have been lost in the shuffle. Instead of me just repeating it all here, check out the link below to the Incantation website and there is a complete list there. There are many songs I have never heard, like “Emaciated Holy Figure” from the Corporate Death compilation, for example, and on and on. It is a genuine treasure trove for fans.

The set ends with a few live cuts recorded in Switzerland, France, and Cleveland a decade or so ago. I hadn’t heard these, either, but I have seen Incantation live several times and hearing these recordings takes me back to those experiences. Sometimes rarities records fall short and have a lot of fluff in them. Not this one. This one is the real deal. Recommended.

Tricennial Of Blasphemy is streaming now, with physicals and merch out on Friday, October 7^th through Relapse records.

Photos by Wayne Edwards.

Links.

Incantation website, https://www.incantation.com/

Bandcamp, https://incantation666.bandcamp.com/album/tricennial-of-blasphemy

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/IncantationOfficial/

Relapse Records, https://store.relapse.com/incantation-tricennial-of-blasphemy

© Wayne Edwards