Indonesia has made itself known as another country filled with noteworthy death metal bands over the last decade and a half, with some skewing towards the brutal end of the spectrum and others like Exhumation opting for more of a death/thrash sound with some atmospheric layers. Incinerated joined the fray back in 2014, and following a demo and an EP their 2020 debut Stellar Abomination went for crushing, dense old-school death metal that had roots in both the American and Scandinavian side of the genre. Five years later the band has returned with The Epitome of Transgression, a sprawling five song album that expands their sonic palette significantly towards black metal’s chilling melodies and more of a dense, atmospheric framework. It’s like the types of transitions bands like Morbus Chron and Tribulation went through between their first and second albums, as Incinerated has headed off on a path that’s a bit more unique compared to their earlier works.
The Epitome of Transgression isn’t as outright prog leaning as Sweven or The Formulas of Death were for their respective groups, but Incinerated has clearly moved away from the straightforward bludgeoning of their debut in favor of something a bit more varied and expansive. The short intro “Preludium: The Saint’s Humanity” makes it clear even before the death/black metal starts that you’re in for something a bit different sounding, as the machinelike layers of sound and rhythmic drum cadence makes it sound like you turned on a martial industrial release at first. But as “Deciphering the Signs of Salvation” kicks in things get much denser, and haunting, dissonant leads greet your ears over top of a pummeling foundation. The way the riffs twist and turn during the earlier half of this song gives off some Negative Plane meets old-school death metal vibes, but as things reach their conclusion some of the murkiness fades away in favor of a slower and entrancing cadence and melodies that seem to weave their way in and out of your speakers with a haunting presence. The other core songs showcase a similar sense of progression, moving from dense dissonance into surprisingly open and fluid instrumentation that still keeps the atmosphere at a high, and the way things ebb and flow differs from track to track. I particularly like the fake out on “The Cyclic Perdition”, where the repeating rhythms and shimmering melodies start to fade as if the song is about to end, and after a short period of silence the abrasiveness comes roaring back in. You also get another interlude in the form of “Confronting & Unfolding Fana” which brings back some of that martial industrial soundscape, but I can’t help but feel it would’ve been better served as part of one of the other tracks rather than its own thing. There’s room for Incinerated to do more with these particular elements, and I think that could make them transform this more unique direction that The Epitome of Transgression has started even further.
While the instrumentals may have added in a lot of melodic elements, the vocals keep things firmly on the harsh side of the spectrum. Vocalist YF has a lot of different approaches within this more abrasive wrapping, and you’ll hear several of them on “Deciphering the Signs of Salvation”. Initially you get a much raspier scream that is drenched in reverb, but this shifts into some cleaner yelling and warped almost spoken word sections later on. The pitch also gets a bit deeper at certain points, moving away from some of the rasp in favor of a lower growl. Admittedly with the denseness and murkiness of the recording, some of these additional details take a few times through to be able to really pick out, as the vocals often feel like they’re just barely breaking through the wall of sound. These types of production decisions are often an acquired taste so your mileage may vary, but I personally think it fits Incinerated’s overall approach.
Incinerated has morphed from more of a traditional old-school death metal band into one that’s more dissonant and atmospheric, without losing the intensity and jagged edges of their earlier days. They still bear some resemblance to others out there, but the way the songs unfold and reshape themselves give off a more unique and adventurous flair and the leads have some real staying power. The murkiness of the production does make you work for some of the details, but for this type of metal I find that to be a positive rather than a negative. I haven’t seen quite as much chatter for this one since it dropped a little while back, but it definitely deserves some more exposure and also lays the foundations for potentially even more transformative things to come. The Epitome of Transgression is available on BlackSeed Productions.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg