Death Metal icons INCANTATION prepare the masses for their new album, Unholy Deification, via Relapse Records. Edified over three-plus decades of experience, Unholy Deification is the group's 13th full-length album. Validated by peers seasoned and new, INCANTATION are more vital than ever - the lineup, featuring founding guitarist/vocalist John McEntee, drummer Kyle Severn, bassist Chuck Sherwood, and guitarist Luke Shively, displays death metal know-how and the power of determination.

"I'm not interested in playing it safe," McEntee asserts. "I think other people feel that there are limits to what we do. However, I don't see it that way. If it feels right, then it's Incantation. The songs we write are an honest expression of ourselves. When people hear the new album, I hope they think, "Why are these guys so pissed off?!" Rage gives focus, which is why this album turned out the way it did."

Lyrically, Unholy Deification originates with Sherwood. An avid reader and occult logician, the INCANTATION bassist wanted to capture a fully-realized concept of evolution through enlightenment. Expect thought-provoking, historically-derived intellection. That the mortal-to-deity narrative interacts with the merciless musical conflagration of hard-hitting tracks such as "Concordat (The Pact) I," "Homunculus (Spirit Made Flesh) IX," and "Invocation (Chthonic Merge) X". Make no mistake - the ferocious new album, featuring guests Jeff Beccera (Possessed), Henry Veggian (ex-Revenant), and Dan Vadim Von (Morbid Angel), is pure Death Metal.

INCANTATION's sepulchral pandemonium is visually enhanced by award-winning artist and longstanding collaborator Eliran Kantor (Immolation, Kreator, Cavalera, and more.) The end result is an interpretation of Italian Renaissance masters, but thrust into INCANTATION's cauldron of chromatic malice.
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I know I'm going to be the only one saying this, but I think Incantation are just another legacy DM band that hasn't done anything interesting since their heyday. Diabolical Conquest was the last album of theirs that had any real memorability. 25 years later and a bunch of albums in, they've more or less created a rut for themselves. I'm not saying they need to reinvent the wheel or anything, but all their albums since DC have been a step down in terms of songwriting, which has rendered their post-DC material interchangeable, minus nuances in production.

This has been the fate of nearly all other death metal bands from the old era (Cannibal Corpse, Immolation, Unleashed, etc.). But, I get it: When you've been around this long, it's hard to change and stray from the formula that allows you to put out an album every several years in order to tour so you can make your bread and butter. I think the constant recycling of ideas for riffs and lyrics, and insipid artwork are all indicative of this.

Going back to Incantation, I would say that, at this point, it's better to go with any of the numerous Incantaion clones that are at least trying to capture the sound of Onward to Golgotha, which will always be their best. Mind you, Incantation-core becomes tiring after a while, but it's definitely a step above the generic let's-put-an-album out-every-few years-so-we-can-tour schlock these dudes have been doing.

Who is producing it?

.. but starting with Vanquish in Vengeance they've just been brutally on top of their game and the songwriting is fantastic.

Surprisingly melodeath album.

I mean it’s not… at all. Having melodies ≠ melodeath.

I was not trying to diss the album, and call it modern Arch Enemy or something shit. It does have a bit of melodic variety and less murk though.