Insult, Abysmal Incantations
Abysmal Incantations is a sweet compilation of a couple of early demos from Sweden’s Insult — Decree from 2005 and Axiom from 2007. While the music from each demo is of the old school Swedish death metal variety, the sound/production of each demo is vastly different, as is the vocal work. The first six songs come from the later demo (Axiom) and carry the better production with deep growls delivered by Johan Svensson. The second half of the disc has a much muddier production with the lead guitarist on growls.
Now that we’ve gotten the individual demo facts out of the way, let’s get down to business here. Insult play old school Swedish death metal (as previously mentioned), but they inject enough of their own personality into the dense riffs and rumbling rhythms to keep the album from festering in mediocrity. The sound between the demos can be a bit of a distraction, but it’s revealing to see how the band shifted their sound from the bass heavy earlier work to the more dense and destructive Axiom.
Blitzkrieg 666
I know why the record label lead off with the more professional sounding Axiom, but it would have been more interesting to hear the demos in chronological order. At any rate, these dudes get the blood flowing immediately with “Blitzkrieg 666.” The guitar work on this song is evil and thick. The rolling rhythms will leave you flattened in the band’s wake as the deep, guttural growls deliver the band’s message with vehemence. Older Dismember comes to mind when listening to this song. Good start so far.
Oath of Eternal Desecration
“Oath of Eternal Desecration” keeps the pace up tempo with chugging riffs and driving rhythms. This song has plenty of manic blasts and twangy bass work in the background. The mosh/riffs around the one minute mark will no doubt lead to some serious head banging mayhem. Overall, this is a bruising track with a hell of a lead just before the two minute track.
Slaves of Holy Righteousness
Straight forward thrashing death metal with deep guttural vocals is all you’ll find in this next song. It’s a thick, full throttle, blasting attack with animalistic drums, crushing riffs and aggressive delivery. The lead at 1:25 is like an evil blend of insanity and melody — which just flat out makes it sick.
Manhunt
“Manhunt” sees the band slow it down a good deal with guitars tinged with an evil, distant tone. Once the vocals come in, the band settles into a thick, churning groove that’s violent and dark. Bleak and memorable, the song will surely haunt you for a good while after it’s gone. The duel vocals just before the two minute mark are a nice touch, adding another element to the band’s arsenol.
Procreation of Perdition
Thundering bass and bestial drum work gets this next song off to a beefy start that quickly shifts into manic overdrive with blasting drums, driving riffs and guttural vocals. There’s a great deal of bass rumbling throughout the track that really pushes this song along at a good clip. The group vocals/growls durning the short chorus are pretty sweet, as well.
Apocalyptic Plague Inferno
“Apocalyptic Plague Inferno” is the final track from the Axiom demo with a building start that reminds me of Slayer for some reason — that is, before the dense riff work comes in. Even without the addition of the earlier demo work, Insult have done enough in these six songs to let you know that they mean business.
A Doubters Manifesto
Starting off the older Decree demo is “A Doubters Manifesto.” The demo overall has an older sounding production that really emphasizes the bass and carries an odd tone with the drums. The vocals are pretty raw and throaty, but suit the music well enough. The song itself, is pretty decent, but the bass and drum tones really distract from the overall feel of the track.
Unholy Triumph
“Unholy Triumph” has a slick bit of riffing to get it going, but once again the bass and drums just throw me for a loop once they kick in shortly after the track starts. The vocal patterns are catchy and lead to plenty of head banging. There are times when the forwardness of the bass are a nice touch and that’s during the brief lead around 1:35.
Bestial Bloodshed
The chugging groove to this one is too catchy to ignore. You can definitely hear the band’s progression from this song to the later demo. This reminds me of something I’ve heard in the past year or two, but can’t put my finger on. This is one of the few tracks on the demo where the more prominent bass lines work to the song’s advantage.
Beast of Heresy
Slayer like reverb opens up this next one before the thick bass and vocals come in with distant guitars. The vocals have a much more evil tinge to their delivery. Not a bad track with plenty of groove and decent guitar work.
Diabolical Decree
“Diabolical Decree” wraps up the older demo with more thick bass and drumming that seems to be a bit scatter brained. The lead at 1:35 is pretty damned tasty though. I definitely prefer the newer demo over these five song, but there are some decent moments here and there that make this combined release that much more enticing.
~ ~ ~
Additional Notes:
N/A