Indonesia’s INCINERATED turned more than a few third eyes inward 2020’s Stellar Abomination. The sheer sonic intrusion held me rapt, elements of Germanic thrash ‘n’ speed – especially in the ragged rage of it all (think KREATOR, Invincible Force DESTRUCTION), but I simply couldn’t get past the way the drums were mixed; not the playing, mind, but the sound itself. Repeated listens brought change and, these days, I fail to remember exactly what I found so irritating about the drums at first.

‘Preludium: The Saint’s Humanity’ does exactly what an intro track (if there must be one) should do, building to the opening song as opposed to pointless filler – and with an album clocking in at just over 35 minutes, there’s no room for excess. Intricate yet incredibly melodic at its start, ‘Deciphering The Signs Of Salvation’ draws the attentive ear in almost immediately, uncredited keys spinning a hypnotic web around the outer edges, as INCINERATED shows noticeable growth in song arrangement. That the 12+ minutes are spent sprinkling elements of everything from ARCTURUS to THE CHASM as influences through the tune serves only to keep interest, rapt and eager for what’s to come.

‘The Cyclic Perdition’ sways, pendulum-like initially but, as the unfettered music of the cosmos, soon enough transmogrifies into the best of PESTILENCE in overdrive, speed and rhythm working together towards a single purpose, and to call such involved yet accessible material symphonic is not so far of a stretch when executed so perfectly. Abbreviated when compared to the other tracks here, ‘Confronting & Unfolding Fana’ begins with an unexpected sense of the ritual, near hallucinogenic and trance-like, ending in a barrage of drums and feedback, but mixed far enough back as to give the feeling of disconnection.

Finale ‘Traces To Eternity’ races from the gate, the quintet unwilling (or unable) to cease the forward momentum even at the end of an album already whiplash-inducing at times, maniacally absurdist at others, but revealing INCINERATED to be a band who, with its second, have crafted something it may have a hard time bettering with a subsequent release. I’m here to watch them try, though, and revel in The Epitome Of Transgression in the meantime.
Review By: Lord Randall

INCINERATED
The Epitome Of Transgression
BlackSeed