Some bands really get on a roll, and from that point there really is no looking back. Seattle's Inquisition have been around since the late 1980's, originally starting out as a thrash band before getting the black metal bug in the early '90s and they've been slowly building a strong underground following every since. The duo of Dagon (vocals, guitars) and Incubus (drums) have a string of killer releases over the years, culminating in what was arguably their strongest effort to date in 2011 with the pulverizing Ominous Doctrines of the Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm. A hard act to follow for sure, but lo and behold here they are on Season of Mist with the absolutely amazing Obscure Verses for the Multiverse, an easy contender for black metal album of the year here in 2013.
For a duo, these guys create a wall of sound that is just phenomenal. Guitar and drums....that's it. Obscure Verses for the Multiverse contains some guitar riffs that are to die for, as Dagon creates dissonant, thunderous exchanges which will leave you breathless. Incubus pounds underneath on the slower tracks and wails with incessant blast beats on the faster pieces. Those not familiar with Inquisition might be initially put off by Dagon's vocals, which are like a digitized toad croak that can best be described as the distant cousin of Immortal's Abbath. If you've ever seen these guys live, it's quite the sight as the two occupy a nearly empty stage and create this huge, mountainous wave of sound. On album, it's absolutely the same, so from one track to the other here you get raw black metal mixed with thunderous crushing doom and a touch of death metal riffery. Fans who have followed these guys know of their penchant for long album & song titles, and that's no different here.
Highlights? Jeez, where do I begin...there's not a weak track here, and for lovers of punishing, crafty guitar riffs, there's an endless supply to be found on this one. "Infinite Interstellar Genocide", "Force Of The Floating Tomb", "Master Of The Cosmological Black Cauldron" and the title track are powerful beyond belief, but the entire CD is simply commanding from start to finish. While it's a possibility that Obscure Verses for the Multiverse might be too intense and relentless for some, I find it hard to imagine that any fan of crushing black metal won't become completely overtaken by this pummeling, precision assault to the senses. It's unbelievably good, plain and simple.
Track Listing
- Force Of The Floating Tomb
- Darkness Flows Towards Unseen Horizons
- Obscure Verses For The Multiverse
- Spiritual Plasma Evocation
- Master Of The Cosmological Black Cauldron
- Joined By Dark Matter, Repelled By Dark Energy
- Arrival Of Eons After
- Inversion Of Ethereal White Stars
- Infinite Interstellar Genocide
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