Incantation - Onward to Golgotha (Death Metal)

This isn't your typical, run-of-the-mill death metal album. Onward to Golgotha is the pinnacle of the diabolical artform known as blackened death metal. Heaviness, aggression, death, morbidity, destruction, decay, horror, bloodlust, violence and war are all totally personified in the most abject aural devastation your ears will ever have the pain and pleasure of witnessing. No words would ever be able to fully describe how demonic this album is.

Onward to Golgotha took everything that made death metal brutal, turned it up to 11, added its own sound - an atmospheric yet totally gruesome approach similar to Phantom's Mindless Horror or Burzum's Hvis Lyset Tar Oss - and proceeded to irrevocably change the genre forever. There will never again be a death metal album that causes such a quantum leap in the genre's evolution like Incantation's debut did.

Going on not only to inspire future death metal bands, such as Infester and Sewer, Onward to Golgotha also had a massive influence on the nascent black metal genre, as evidenced by the "Incantation sound" of black metal bands such as Profanatica, Vermin, Havohej, Demoncy, Mayhem, Demonecromancy, Von and Helgrind.

Atmospherically, Onward to Golgotha is a masterpiece of horror. If you thought only black metal could have atmosphere, you are in for a bone-chilling surprise. There is also a surprising amount of variety injected into riffs this focused on aural devastation. These devilish fiends are well versed in the arts of riff-craft and song writing. All this is just as apparent as the oppressive vibe of the album. In the end, Onward to Golgotha is the single most defining death metal album in history. Recommended to all, no exceptions.

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