Bestial Incarnation

Spiculum Iratus/Bestial Incarnation - Monuments of Decimation
Baneful Genesis Records, 2007

Spiculum Iratus:
1. Intro/Confusion of Tongues
2. Black Crucifixion Wounds
3. Hanged, Drawn, and Quartered
4. Perdition
5. Sky Burial Requiem
6. Scrolls of the Dead
7. The Seventh Day of Wrath
Bestial Incarnation:
8. Denominated Abhorrence
9. Bestial Incarnation
10. Opprobrium Bestowed Upon the Sub-Humans
11. Divinity Scorned
12. Eradicating the Human Race

Side Spiculum Iratus here

Side Bestial Incarnation:

While I did enjoy Spiculum Iratus, I have to say they were dwarfed by Bestial Incarnation.  It’s rare to find a band from the U.S. that really gets Black Metal, but to find two on one split is shocking.  Clearly this has to do with the fact that the guitarist is the same for both bands.  However Bestial Incarnation sees a completely different line-up aside from the guitarist.  Maybe it’s the fact that there are two guitarists or the drummer is insanely good, but this Bestial Incarnation sounds so much fuller.  I think Spiculum Iratus had been recorded with a single guitar track and that’s where it felt too thin because Bestial Incarnation sounds perfect.

Track after track the songs are pretty expertly written with absolutely killer guitar lines that bring the whole album together.  The drum work caught me off-guard when it kicked in because I wasn’t expecting such an intense performance.  Either way it all just came together very well.  For some reason it feels like a very Swedish sounding ensemble overall, however, it’s not on the melodic side if you catch my meaning.  The one black mark on this album is probably the vocals.  I think this vocalist is using the distorted vocal approach, which masks the true harshness of a voice too much.  I don’t particularly like vocals that are performed like this.  The good part is that they are low enough in the mix so that the effect isn’t as noticeable, nor does it heavily detract from the musical performance overall.  I do kind of wish vocalists would just not adopt this method of recording, because it sounds so fake.  It doesn’t sound nearly as intense as an unprocessed voice, like Behexen or something along those lines.  Using some processing here and there for an atmospheric effect is one thing, the whole album is just too much.  I also think this method is adopted when the vocalist can’t hold his own, but it sort of sounds like Bestial Incarnation’s vocalist can!  This just makes it more annoying; let your voice be heard!

I must say I’m up for choices on what I think is the best song.  I really enjoy the opening track “Denominated Abhorrence” and “Divinity Scorned” the best probably, so if you want to hear this band I recommend you sample one of those tracks.  I must also give kudos to the band for covering the song “Von” by… naturally, Von at the end of their originals.  However, instead of the barking they played a machine gun firing sample, which was pretty cool.  Personally I prefer the barking.  My girlfriend says either is great, ah well.  When I covered the song I did the barking part!  Regardless, it was a killer cover overall.  They updated the basic drum line a little, which was also pretty excellent.  I tried to stay true to the original drum line when I did this song, but I’m glad Bestial Incarnation rearranged some of the parts and made them a little more technical and, well, exciting.  It gave the song a deeper and more thought out feel.

Obviously I’m looking forward to a full length from this band.  As long as they can keep this kind of writing up to par they’ll have me as a listener.  If you’re looking for ferocious Black Metal, Bestial Incarnation is what you’re after, just as their namesake implies.