Saturday, December 28, 2013

Incarceration – Sacrifice

Incarceration is a death metal band that originally hailed from Brazil, but now is located in Germany. “Sacrifice” is their first EP, and it is 9 minutes full of heavy-hitting death metal. From the opening seconds of “Forsaken and Forgotten”, you are sent straight into the abyss of blazing riffs that Brazilians and Germans have always pulled off best (in their thrash roots). The EP as a whole shows this thrash influence prominently, as the band rarely slows down.  Forsaken and Forgotten” is pretty simplistic, and it barely cracks two minutes, but the roaring chorus is surprisingly memorable. The vocals are guttural, but retain that old-school feel. In fact, the entirety of the EP is like a throwback to the early 90’s. The production isn’t perfect, but it suits the atmosphere appropriately. As the band never relents, the drums pound furiously throughout the whole EP, but the 90’s-era production means that the snare doesn’t crack through your skull each time it is played.

The title track of the EP follows a similar formula to the opener, except that it puts an bridge where the band takes a slight detour from speed to give you more pummeling, digestible riffs. It isn’t long, however, before they return to the breakneck tempos that will give you whiplash. This song features a solo, which shows homage to Kreator’s axemen of the 80’s. The final track is pretty similar in terms of its ability to force you to headbang. Overall, it’s hard to find a flaw in this EP. The band manages to shed the biggest problem with death metal (memorability), while ignoring all of the issues of modern death metal (production being the biggest contender). This is seriously among the most impressive releases of the year, and it would be a disservice to fans of death metal if they did not hear “Sacrifice”. 

Be sure to check out and like Incarceration on Facebook!

Highlights
"Forsaken and Forgotten"
"Sacrifice"

Final Rating
4.3/5 or 86%. 

Written by Scott