Five epiphanies on the ailment of sentience and its symptoms (be they desire, hope or arrogance…) speak to willful self-liberation and acceptance of annihilation alike as West Java, Indonesia-based death metal quintet INCINERATED generate a third-stage personal evolution within this sophomore full-length album. A doubly broadened rhythmic temperament focused into just a few longform stretches ‘The Epitome of Transgression‘ initially demands a patient and attentive ear per its ornate shaping yet clear and consistent motility offers entrancement rather than outright tension. There is a satisfying dance to the rhythms here, more accomplished movements which act as its main spectacle, which serve an altogether different angle unto death likely to bewilder anyone returning to their work half a decade later expecting the plain impulse of ancient death metal as directive.

Incinerated formed circa 2014 prompted by folks who’d later form Veneration but were soon joined by others (2015-2016) with ties to brutal death and the local scenery of the past. Their style can technically be described as pure death metal in its intent with consideration for the sub-genre’s origins and early normalization in the late 80’s, this may read as “blackened” death metal to the modern extreme metal ear, particularly via this latest release. Their earliest sound could be further qualified by light avant-garde expression, use of ritualistic noise and cacophonic production values to create a sensation of underground severity while still reflecting ex-speed metal tendencies per their debut EP (‘Enshrine in Chaos‘, 2017). That recording suggested bestial death metal referential sound design set atop somewhat sophisticated interplay between obsessively riddled-through riffs, inciting a caustic but clear-shouted attack and chaotic atmosphere often likened to something like Degial or Verminous where the roots of late 80’s death metal were visible but handled as a blur of speed and echoing nox.

The containment of that sound design alongside the unholy expansion of the band’s approach was potent, a notably altered reality via Incinerated‘s debut LP (‘Stellar Abomination‘, 2020) wherein their feral ritual cacophony was then sharpened into alignment, more exacting in statement and easier set within its transitional movement. While the immediacy of their craft was modified to lean into some more mid-paced ventures this made for an at-times erratic occult death metal release which still rang of the old ways as a song like “Desecration” will make clear upon revisit. While that debut should be treated as a place marker for where the band’ve developed their craft within the last five years it doesn’t necessarily act as a direct conduit for what arrives within the expansive rituals of ‘The Epitome of Transgression‘ where three main longform pieces (each roughly ~10 minutes in length) serve to extend the spiritus and redefine the acumen of the group.

What we find within the deleterious halls of Incinerated‘s second album ultimately compounds as sophistication, and while this won’t immediately translate on paper the experience will ultimately prove lithe and accomplished in its musicianship. In the space of these longform pieces rhythms arrive in emergent flowing strands which appear to be inspired by both orthodox black metal’s evolutionary traits as much as they’ve taken on the thoughtful respite of progressive death metal motioning. While it might sound like we’ve taken a perilous leap away from the ‘old school’ spiked attack of prior work I would suggest the occult blackened death siege available to previous works is yet available here. “The Cyclic Perdition” is arguably the most clear example of these musical languages and techniques cohering into sensorial overload, a thread woven between all available portals the band’d operated within over the last ten years but each piece here is on great shard of this thought trailing down its own echoic path.

Within the first portion of 12+ minute opener “Deciphering the Signs of Salvation” the full reveal of Incinerated‘s expanded ouevre is not yet unraveled as we find the parity of presence shared between the bass guitar and the layers of rhythm/lead guitar rests clearly defined, the major voice of their directive being intertwined in both practical and exaggerative movement. As was the case with the previous record the space outlined by this sound is not enormous but bears a chasmic drift within the tarantella of its bass-driven sluice, enough room for rhythms which shudder and flair out as tension is released. While we could of course argue for the band’s sound having been completely transmuted within those first ~four minutes the pure death metal instinct arrives (briefly) before what I’d describe as a dalliance between progressive death and “dissonant” black/death metal mused movement overtakes the focus of the song and (eventually) the album overall.

The aforementioned “The Cyclic Perdition” should momentarily right the ship for some folks returning for that death metal rooting but it should be clear even within that expanse (especially beyond ~3:44 minutes on) that Incinerated have approached their rhythms with an entirely different hand herein. The floated-downward hum of that extended break eventually sours into the nauseated suspense of the song’s final third and there the trade between prog-death and ~dissoblack ideas once again feels most invasive, alien in its outstretched limbs; Because there are only five tracks and only three contain the band’s performances the full listen demands rapt attention at those three major junctures the third of which, “Traces to Eternity”, follows a similar path from confrontation to wandering atmospheric dissolution. While I particularly enjoy the sauntering ghast of this piece it was the final blow, the best stated cue to let go of the band’s point of inception and begin to appreciate the considerable change incurred by the band’s focus herein.

While I appreciated ‘The Epitome of Transgression‘ as a more complete integration of broadened rhythmic pursuits, and felt its style was extremely suitable for the elite BlackSeed roster, I’m not sure if Incinerated‘ve made enough of an argument for this approach within just three featured pieces. Not only was the ~35 minute runtime a bit hollowed by its brevity and use of intro/interludium but the larger thread feels like it was excised of a key middle portion as “Traces to Eternity” spends quite a fair deal of its ~10 minutes enmeshed in atmospheric motioning, a long farewell which’d left the greater effect of the LP cut short and void of a climax (or, elevated third act). This isn’t such a major complaint as the evolution of the band’s style is compelling enough per its insidious drift yet I don’t believe this record will stick in mind beyond its emboldened rhythm section. A moderately high recommendation.

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