Last year, pioneering death metal band Incantation commemorated 30 years of brutally spewing bile with Tricennial of Blasphemy, a triple-LP loaded with previously unreleased material. Anyone harboring even the slightest suspicion that the look back would mark the swan song for Incantation was off. Way off, actually. The unshakeable quartet have already bagged a new album, Unholy Deification, for release on Relapse Records in late August. That’s Incantation, doing it rite.
“We had already started writing a bunch of songs before the pandemic,” vocalist and guitarist John McEntee says. “We were inspired as fuck as a band, and it was really awesome (to feel that way at) that point in (our) career.”
With the wind at their sails, Incantation completed the main chunk of recording for Unholy Deification during the pandemic. But then matters got complicated. Even though Incantation already had Unholy Deification pretty much in the bag, when touring resumed everywhere, the death metal marauders still wanted to give their previous studio album, 2020’s Sect of Vile Divinities, its fair push. So Incantation then toured behind Sect of Vile Divinities in 2022, issued the triple-LP rarities set in July, put the finishing touches on Unholy Deification in December and January, and now—viola!—have a new record.
“’It’s crazy because the songs on Unholy Deification are already almost two, three years old already, you know?” McEntee laughs. “I’m happy just to finally get them out.”
The vocalist and guitarist also makes a surprising but somewhat obvious point that explains why Incantation are respected as such a prolific band.
“Doing an album is easy because we have four songwriters in the band,” McEntee notes matter-of-factly. “So everyone comes up with a couple ideas (for songs, and) before you know it, (the album is) fucking done.”
Incantation might come across like a self-contained pack of road dogs, but they—or McEntee, at least—keep tabs on contemporary metal. He said he’s proud that part of Incantation’s legacy will be their role in helping death metal’s resurgence pass anyone’s expectations. McEntee agrees with the contention that death metal is more popular than ever before, even than in its heyday, of which Incantation were a part.
“Yeah, I think it is (bigger than ever). It’s crazy to say that,” McEntee considers. “It was pretty popular when we were starting, but it was still pretty small in comparison. It was a more dedicated fan base. Now there’s a lot more people into it… so there’s also a casual death metal fan base.”
All in all, McEntee is proud of Incantation’s contributions to death metal and where the band are today.
“We really wanted to push the limits of death metal at a time when I didn’t realize that, one day, it would be its own thing,” McEntee says. “I just always thought it would just be kind of us doing us, you know? And now I hear other bands; they really capture that style that we play, especially early on. And it’s super cool to hear that.”
Photo courtesy of Incantation
