Incantation - The Forsaken Mourning of Angelic Anguish (1997)

This is pretty much the last Incantation release that I truly give a fuck about. Sure, 'Diabolical Conquest' had some decent tunes (though why the band chose to replace the low end ungodliness of Pillard with Danny Corchado's throat-fucked rasp is way the fuck beyond me) and I'll even go as far to say that 'Blasphemy' is something of an underrated classic, but this was the last time I felt that Incantation was flat out perfecto-fucking-mundo. Some of the band's most evil sounding shit to date is right here, buckaroo. Forget all the shit that ol' Johnny Mac & Cheese himself has been vocalizing over, this is the band's pinnacle achievement right here. Sure, it's only an 'ep', but I'll put this release up against anything the band has shat fourth since!

Surprisingly enough, TFMOAA showcases what is easily Craig Pillard's weakest vocal performance to date. Don't get me wrong, they're not outright faggy sounding by any stretch and I'll take Craig on a bad day over most others, but they do sound ever so slightly tired and uninspired.

TFMOAA marked the first recording to feature now longtime Incant skin master, Kyle Severn, and almost solely for his performance on this ep alone do I rank him as one of my top 5 all time favorite drummers.

John McEntee's riffary here is among his best and the production of Bill Korecky is spot fucking on, bringing out the band's true essence and flawless knack for conjuring fourth negative vibes.

The only real complaint I have here is the inclusion of the ultra-lame cover of Death's 'Scream Bloody Gore'. As much as I prefer Pillard's cavernous style over Chucks's, it's just downright fucking miserable to endure his rendition of this death metal classic. The end result, while not horrible in any significant way, just sounds rather gratuitous and beat and I would have much rather have had the band opt to include another original.

Again, while I do like Diabolical Conquest and Blasphemy, for me, this is the last of the truly essential Incantation releases.