Dirges of Elysium

Incantation’s 2014 album feels like a conscious — and successful — attempt to rescale the heights they achieved on 1997’s Diabolical Conquest. Like that album, it ends with a complex, multi-part epic, in this case the 16:23 “Elysium (Eternity is Nigh).” But it’s the power of the shorter songs that really make this album a standout in a uniformly impressive catalog. “Carrion Prophecy” in particular is one of the most earworm-ish songs Incantation have ever recorded, built around a low riff that chugs like a bulldozer. The production is excellent, giving John McEntee’s and Alex Bouks’ guitars a thick crunch and Kyle Severn’s drums a crisp but whomping impact. In keeping with the album title, the songs mostly tilt toward the slower side, but they still break into a sprint from time to time.