Dual serpents, deities enthroned upon the southern seas — The ancient crypts of Santiago, Chile would seemingly never exhaust of their black flame cough’d expurse of evil thrash metal. Without stomping out other viable killers elsewhere (Norway, for example) these last couple of decades, few regions on Earth persist with such passionate exaggeration of classic extreme metal ideals than those that thrive within the brutal ecosystem of the nation’s capitol. If you’re looking for riffs that are numerous as they are merciless throw a stone in any direction and you’ll hit a band who more than exceed the middling standards of today. With no possibility of flooding or tiring and plenty of room for all variations, we’ve found more and more bands incorporating all-inclusive adaptations of black, death, and thrash metal prime within a richly evolved scattering of apex predatory acts. Fuming quartet Invincible Force had already shown signs of death’s ascendant ritual on past releases but with ‘Decomposed Sacramentum‘ they transgress the sixth and seventh circles via the heretical violence of pure South American death/thrash metal. The question is, then, is this just another one of “those” or an entity from beyond the known?

I’d figure most folks will initially, and perhaps reluctantly find much of this brief (~27 minute) album in limbo between typical traits and riffcraft that often stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the greats. This is no crime but mastery. The pedigree of this band is immaculate in their collective representation of classic thrash and extreme metal idealism via resumes that include Praise the Flame, Ancient Crypts, Dekapited, and Apokryphus; Perhaps not household names but those who’ve scoured the Chilean underground year over year know those are all names that breach barriers via their own powerful conviction. Invisible Force began their reign circa 2008 with admittedly less distinction, a Satanic speed metal band leaning towards black/thrash and heavy influence from early Destruction. I’d honed in on this band when they were full-length ready (‘Satan Rebellion Metal‘, 2015) but they had hit a certain stride a few years earlier on a split with now defunct thrashers Nuklear Strike. That debut put them in league with groups like Slaughtbbath, Perversor, and Force of Darkness each of whom blend bestial (or, blackened) thrash and early North American death metal influences into impossibly volatile riff machine. The lineage stems from albums like ‘Darkness Descends’ and ‘Altars of Madness’ and ‘Deicide’ before handing off to the nearest generation via Mortem (Peru), Atomic Aggressor and perhaps early Sadism. It is all relative but Invisible Force now tip heaviest into this feral death metal realm without losing their core thrashing madness.

If you’re prone to mentally catalogue your favorite riffs from each album you come across, as I am, the first several spins of ‘Decomposed Sacramentum’ might only reveal highlights via riffs that are obviously influenced. The first would be the pre-‘Blessed Are the Sick’ Morbid Angel wildfire attack of “Perpetual Black Mass” which alternates with brutal thrash metal pummeling. As with any other reference I’ll pull from the record none of it is just plain worship but the root statement in long and neatly written death/thrash metal riff runs, strings of masterful brutality. No doubt you could hear “Bleed for the Devil” in certain parts of “The Covenant” but the bigger picture could be more generally compared to Mortem‘s ‘Demon Tales’ thanks to the rest of the riffing and the vocal timbre. I could just as well say the intro to “The Shadow Over Canaan” follows “Fight Fire With Fire” note for (almost) note as it begins. This is the sum major first impression of the album, that ’89-’91 death metal which (hadn’t left behind classic thrash metal) is the ultimate point of view intended; No doubt the second most important trait to froth over is the heavy-handed love for the first and second Deicide albums (see: “Illusion of Truth”, Hopeless Mortality”) to the point that the main riffing is dead similar in a few cases. These references alone won’t be enough to convince most folks of long term value but for the pure death and thrash metal guitar hound every moment of ‘Decomposed Sacramentum’ will entertain with high-energy brutality that is entirely classicist.

Perfect, actually. This is a thousand percent my kind of jam, a short and ruthless death/thrash metal attack that might pull from some the best for influence but while still asserting itself across the board. The way I see it there were tons of Dark Angel riffs on ‘Deicide’ and plenty of Kreator riffs on ‘Final Holocaust’ but each holds up for their own extremes and the readable persona beyond. This more or less applies to Invincible Force but I’ve no doubt the project has more life behind their eyes, enough to top this album in a number of years. Taken as is, for what it is ‘Decomposed Sacramentum’ is still sharp and decisive riff mastery, the sort of chaotic but entirely sound extremity you’d want from a Chilean band of thier ilk but with several memorable songs characterizing its short length with primal potency. A very high recommendation.

Info:
ARTIST:	INVINCIBLE FORCE
TITLE:	Decomposed Sacramentum
TYPE:	LP
LABEL(S):	Dark Descent Records
RELEASE DATE:	October 22nd, 2020
BUY & LISTEN:	Bandcamp [All Formats]
GENRE(S):	Death/Thrash Metal, Blackened Death Metal

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