Review by Vladimir on January 28, 2024.

Well damn, I guess I stumbled upon the very gates of the underworld, from which I descended deep into the bowels of hell, where I was awaited by Diablo himself. Join me on this godforsaken journey, as I take a look at the Spanish black metal band Cryfemal, with their ninth full-length album La Gran Victoria Del Mal, released on October 20th, 2023 via Immortal Frost Productions.

Cryfemal provides a very misanthropic, destructive and purely antichristian black metal that rips the flesh with tremolo picking riffs on a 7 string guitar in lower tuning, blast beats and maniacal screaming harsh vocals with growling backing vocals. From start to finish, this album is dominated by songs which sound downright brutal with the given instrumental work, being borderline death metal at times, especially with the lower tuning making it sound much more deviant and insane. A personal highlight of mine might be the sixth track 'Noctambulismo' which I liked particularly for its riff work, brief mid-tempo drumming and overall flow, however I also really dig the seventh track 'Despide El Ser' for its particularly apocalyptic vibe taken to the very extreme.

This album has a very straightforward and simplistic songwriting, which gives it a sense of stylistic consistency from one track to another. The decision of black metal to be played on 7 string guitars is often a risky one, as it often ends up sounding very muddy or just highly off putting at times, however in this case it doesn't actually feel like it strays off its path, despite the fact that I am still not used to black metal music in lower tunings or even 7 string guitars. If anything, the lower tuning and 7 string guitars contribute by making the songs even sharper around the edges, while also creating a different form of diabolic and satanic atmosphere that is both unique and unusual. Some people might feel like they are listening to something which could be summarized as "what if the famed Doom and Doom Eternal composer Mick Gordon wrote a black metal album", and I won't lie to you because I did feel so from time to time. What really compliments the riff and drum work on this album is the maniacal screaming vocals that feel both painful and frightening at the same time, that succeed by making this album sound like one torture machine from the depths of hell. The sound production of this album has a very highly distorted guitar tone that can often sound a bit muddy and unclean, especially since we're talking about a downtuned black metal album, however the drums and vocals seem to be much better balanced than the guitars.

Although I found this album to be rather unusual and a bit unorthodox for something that belongs in the black metal branch, I actually liked it a lot. It is a very primitive and insane album from start to finish, which has plenty of sick and brutal material that makes it sound like one hell of a demonic serenade. The overall output weirded me out at first, but as I followed along, I seemed to have started enjoying it midway through, which I think could be equivalent to my experience when I first tried out dark chocolate with berries. If you ever stumble upon this album, don't hesitate to check it out, I am sure you will find it very delightful.

Rating: 8.3 out of 10

Review by Vladimir on January 28, 2024.

Well damn, I guess I stumbled upon the very gates of the underworld, from which I descended deep into the bowels of hell, where I was awaited by Diablo himself. Join me on this godforsaken journey, as I take a look at the Spanish black metal band Cryfemal, with their ninth full-length album La Gran Victoria Del Mal, released on October 20th, 2023 via Immortal Frost Productions.

Cryfemal provides a very misanthropic, destructive and purely antichristian black metal that rips the flesh with tremolo picking riffs on a 7 string guitar in lower tuning, blast beats and maniacal screaming harsh vocals with growling backing vocals. From start to finish, this album is dominated by songs which sound downright brutal with the given instrumental work, being borderline death metal at times, especially with the lower tuning making it sound much more deviant and insane. A personal highlight of mine might be the sixth track 'Noctambulismo' which I liked particularly for its riff work, brief mid-tempo drumming and overall flow, however I also really dig the seventh track 'Despide El Ser' for its particularly apocalyptic vibe taken to the very extreme.

This album has a very straightforward and simplistic songwriting, which gives it a sense of stylistic consistency from one track to another. The decision of black metal to be played on 7 string guitars is often a risky one, as it often ends up sounding very muddy or just highly off putting at times, however in this case it doesn't actually feel like it strays off its path, despite the fact that I am still not used to black metal music in lower tunings or even 7 string guitars. If anything, the lower tuning and 7 string guitars contribute by making the songs even sharper around the edges, while also creating a different form of diabolic and satanic atmosphere that is both unique and unusual. Some people might feel like they are listening to something which could be summarized as "what if the famed Doom and Doom Eternal composer Mick Gordon wrote a black metal album", and I won't lie to you because I did feel so from time to time. What really compliments the riff and drum work on this album is the maniacal screaming vocals that feel both painful and frightening at the same time, that succeed by making this album sound like one torture machine from the depths of hell. The sound production of this album has a very highly distorted guitar tone that can often sound a bit muddy and unclean, especially since we're talking about a downtuned black metal album, however the drums and vocals seem to be much better balanced than the guitars.

Although I found this album to be rather unusual and a bit unorthodox for something that belongs in the black metal branch, I actually liked it a lot. It is a very primitive and insane album from start to finish, which has plenty of sick and brutal material that makes it sound like one hell of a demonic serenade. The overall output weirded me out at first, but as I followed along, I seemed to have started enjoying it midway through, which I think could be equivalent to my experience when I first tried out dark chocolate with berries. If you ever stumble upon this album, don't hesitate to check it out, I am sure you will find it very delightful.

Rating: 8.3 out of 10

Review by Vladimir on January 28, 2024.

Well damn, I guess I stumbled upon the very gates of the underworld, from which I descended deep into the bowels of hell, where I was awaited by Diablo himself. Join me on this godforsaken journey, as I take a look at the Spanish black metal band Cryfemal, with their ninth full-length album La Gran Victoria Del Mal, released on October 20th, 2023 via Immortal Frost Productions.

Cryfemal provides a very misanthropic, destructive and purely antichristian black metal that rips the flesh with tremolo picking riffs on a 7 string guitar in lower tuning, blast beats and maniacal screaming harsh vocals with growling backing vocals. From start to finish, this album is dominated by songs which sound downright brutal with the given instrumental work, being borderline death metal at times, especially with the lower tuning making it sound much more deviant and insane. A personal highlight of mine might be the sixth track 'Noctambulismo' which I liked particularly for its riff work, brief mid-tempo drumming and overall flow, however I also really dig the seventh track 'Despide El Ser' for its particularly apocalyptic vibe taken to the very extreme.

This album has a very straightforward and simplistic songwriting, which gives it a sense of stylistic consistency from one track to another. The decision of black metal to be played on 7 string guitars is often a risky one, as it often ends up sounding very muddy or just highly off putting at times, however in this case it doesn't actually feel like it strays off its path, despite the fact that I am still not used to black metal music in lower tunings or even 7 string guitars. If anything, the lower tuning and 7 string guitars contribute by making the songs even sharper around the edges, while also creating a different form of diabolic and satanic atmosphere that is both unique and unusual. Some people might feel like they are listening to something which could be summarized as "what if the famed Doom and Doom Eternal composer Mick Gordon wrote a black metal album", and I won't lie to you because I did feel so from time to time. What really compliments the riff and drum work on this album is the maniacal screaming vocals that feel both painful and frightening at the same time, that succeed by making this album sound like one torture machine from the depths of hell. The sound production of this album has a very highly distorted guitar tone that can often sound a bit muddy and unclean, especially since we're talking about a downtuned black metal album, however the drums and vocals seem to be much better balanced than the guitars.

Although I found this album to be rather unusual and a bit unorthodox for something that belongs in the black metal branch, I actually liked it a lot. It is a very primitive and insane album from start to finish, which has plenty of sick and brutal material that makes it sound like one hell of a demonic serenade. The overall output weirded me out at first, but as I followed along, I seemed to have started enjoying it midway through, which I think could be equivalent to my experience when I first tried out dark chocolate with berries. If you ever stumble upon this album, don't hesitate to check it out, I am sure you will find it very delightful.

Rating: 8.3 out of 10

Review by Fernando on August 15, 2023.

Incantation at this point needs no introduction. They’re the forefathers of both death-doom and cavernous death metal, as well as a major influence to current underground death cult Dead Congregation and for the last three decades they have managed to remain a consistent and steadfast act, with guitarist and vocalist John McEntee being able to keep this blasphemous train going in spite of a rotating door policy lineup. And today we have their 13th studio album Unholy Deification.

Given that Incantation’s long standing in the world of death metal, it goes without saying that the band have pretty much perfected their sound and have consistently leaned into their strengths ever since John McEntee took over vocal duties, however, the band have also had some interesting deviations over the years. For Unholy Deification, the band have decided to continue the path of their previous record Sect Of Vile Divinities, as this album is a rager from beginning to end with songs that are perfect for the mosh pit, but without missing that trademark Incantation blasphemous crunch.

A major improvement is the production and while most Incantation diehards would argue the band sounded best in their early years with a gritty production and cavernous sound, after hearing this record, I don’t think having a cavernous production would’ve benefited it, at least not in practice. The band still play as heavy and intensely as ever and sonically this album is much heavier than the last record. They really lean into both the fast and the slow breakdowns to make the record as brutal as possible, quite possibly in response to how the last two records have followed more or less the same formula actually. The production really helps here, since being able to hear every instrument clearly adds much more heft into the songs, plus John McEntee also brought some really tasteful thrash-y riffs and licks that are reminiscent of his old band Revenant, and having his former band mate Henry Veggian really helps in that regard.

That being said, Incantation have been at it for so long that while the album is enjoyable and is a much stronger offering than the previous record, this is still an Incantation record, which isn’t bad at all, but if you know what you’re getting into, then nothing will truly surprise you, but regardless, this is still the band playing and performing at their peak and with some very welcomed guests like Jeff Becerra, the already mentioned Henry Veggian and Morbid Angel shredder Dan Vadim Von, and all alongside the band make the whole album a worthwhile experience.

Overall, Incantation still does what they do best, pummeling and blasphemous death metal, with another solid entry into their catalog, while I would like to see them experiment a bit more, if the formula ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Best tracks: ‘Homunculus (Spirit Made Flesh) IX’, ‘Invocation (Chthonic Merge) X’, ‘Altar (Unify in Carnage) V’

Rating: 8 out of 10