Album Rating: 3.5

Na if this was the band's debut Id still give it a 4.

Album Rating: 4.0

Well I wouldn't go so far as to say the album is lame but it definitely feels phoned-in and, like Spirit says, too clean and so not very ~evocative~



You can't phone in great riffs. Sure this isn't their best album but it's still much more to-the-point then the imitators. Yes the production is better and makes it a touch less dirty but once again, still a mean sounding record. Wouldn't you take the money and do a better production job on your records if you've been in the industry for 25 plus years? Sometimes familiarity goes a long way. You can't possibly sit here and tell me Dark Descent/ Profound Lore/ etc. are pushing any boundaries in death metal (especially the amount of samey bands they've been pushing out for the past 10 years).



That's a fair point. Perhaps some people just have too much sentimental value loaded into the band?



No, I just enjoy their timeless, branded dm sound.



I miss all you guys too!!!!! Needs some Wizard passion back in these forums.

Album Rating: 3.5

"Needs some Wizard trademarked bold font back in these forums."

i couldnt objectively rate this on its own merits. i have 5 albums by Incantation and im pretty sure ive heard all of them up to this one. sitting through more of the same just sounds like a chore. the fact that i come back to 5 of them despite their lack of progress is a testament to their mastery though.

Album Rating: 4.5

best album this year so far

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

Wiz, we can go back and forth for pages but I just flat out disagree about this album sounding "mean". You concede that the production is cleaner, and I maintain that the dirty, reverberant sound palette of their first 3 is a huge part of why I like them - hence why this doesn't do much for me, among other reasons I outlined (eg, McEntee's vox).



This is also why I prefer the output of some Incantation-worship groups to the recent efforts by the real thing, because while they might lack some of the compositional chops of Incantation, they retain that lo-fi aesthetic that I adore about the latter's early work. Incantation at their best put any imitator to shame, but this is far from that really.

Album Rating: 4.0

Yes we can go back and forth for pages upon pages but I like busting your balls ;) Clean doesn't have to be bad but I do see why you compare this to old Incantation and grow old with it quickly.



Incantation at their best put any imitator to shame, but this is far from that really.



Okay okay I will leave you alone now! hahaha

"You can't possibly sit here and tell me Dark Descent/ Profound Lore/ etc. are pushing any boundaries in death metal (especially the amount of samey bands they've been pushing out for the past 10 years). "

Love you Wiz.

Yeah I got around to listening to this - it's mean AND full of riffs.

"I also don't get how people just dismiss "imitators" and assert they can't possibly make better albums than Incantation's contemporary efforts"

When it's an imitation, trying to say one or the other is 'better' is a stupid argument. You can copy and steal but do something innovative with it. Father Befouled have after so many years only now released something interesting, but I can bet you I'll be listening to Profane Nexus more than anything they've put out combined.

"especially since Incantation have been imitating themselves (to the point of redundancy) for over two decades."

if you thought twice about this statement you might see how dumb it sounds

Album Rating: 3.5

"especially since Incantation have been imitating themselves (to the point of redundancy) for over two decades."



"if you thought twice about this statement you might see how dumb it sounds" [2]

Father Befouled do something interesting on their new record? Im skeptical but i guess ill check it.

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

"When it's an imitation, trying to say one or the other is 'better' is a stupid argument."



I don't particularly care if one band imitates another as long as it sounds good to these ears, so when I (and, I can imagine, most people) say one album is better than another, I'd assume you're aware its not to be taken as fact. This is why I don't care for the idea that the progenitors of a certain ~sound~ need be the "best" at it, which is an argument that is often made and used as some kind of objective metric for a later piece of work's quality. But yeah, if we go down this path I think we're just gonna end up arguing semantics lol



"if you thought twice about this statement you might see how dumb it sounds"



Eh, not really. Incantation struck gold with their debut, laid the blueprint for an entire style and stuck with it. I can't blame them, obviously, and if their later works affected me as their early ones do, I wouldn't have a problem, but alas.

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

I do like it, it's decent (3.0 - good), but that's it. It just reminds me of their better, filthier albums is all.

I have to disagree with the Dark Descent comment considering the past three years has seen them releasing quite a few albums I'd call "innovative" or at the very least, unique and standouts of the modern scene with Blood Incantation, Horrendous, Ghoulgotha, House of Atreus, Emptiness, Nox Formulae, Thantifaxath, Lantern, Mitochondrion, Adversarial, etc.

Some are more "typical" than others but a lot of what DD puts out these days has an edge that sets them apart, though for all I know that EDGE might just be quality and not actually anything theoretically "unique".

these guys sound like they're on fucking autopilot again

Album Rating: 3.0

They've been on autopilot since The Infernal Storm

Album Rating: 3.5

agreed

"This is why I don't care for the idea that the progenitors of a certain ~sound~ need be the "best" at it,"

comments like these make me think you don't read what you're replying to. I said 'one or the other', implying I don't think progenitors of any style necessarily are the best. but nobody has been saying that, that's just what you're hearing. you were the one who claimed Father Befouled is now 'better' than the band they ape, and rightfully people laughed at you because Father Befouled aren't better than anything.

"Eh, not really. Incantation struck gold with their debut, laid the blueprint for an entire style and stuck with it. I can't blame them, obviously, and if their later works affected me as their early ones do, I wouldn't have a problem, but alas."

you clearly haven't thought twice

"Father Befouled do something interesting on their new record? Im skeptical but i guess ill check it."

take that with a grain of salt, it's not as utterly boring as their previous albums

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

You prefaced the "saying one or the other is 'better' is a stupid argument" comment with "when it's an imitation", after saying "I haven't even heard Profane Nexus yet and I know that its better than FB's new album" and "sad when people think poor or blatant imitations can somehow be 'better'".



If you meant something other than what I ~heard~ then apologies, but your comments certainly seemed to convey a 'first = best' sentiment, which I see all the time.

Album Rating: 3.5

Yeah I'm honestly not the biggest fan of that new Father Befouled either, this is way better.