Incinerated are what one could describe as old-school cool dressed up in brand new threads. The brazen Indonesian outfit peddle the kind of extreme metal that arose in the late eighties to early nineties, a pure and raucous confluence of primitive death, black, doom and thrash that splintered into what we broadly define those terms as today; sometimes entirely isolated sub-genres that were once joined in the most unholy of matrimonies. The difference is simply that it’s being done in 2020 with shinier production to match.
Incinerated are one of the bands that recognize the intrinsic bonds that tie all extreme metal together, it’s so wildly obvious with just one listen of their debut record Stellar Abomination. No frills, no nonsense. ‘Chaos Infinite’ kicks off with blazing tremolo lines and a wash of cymbal work before descending into the expected maelstrom of blast beats, punky energy, rabid riffage and hellish snarling. It’s cleaner than most records to come from early death and black metal, but not to the point of sterility. That’s a real drum room providing weight to the beats and that’s natural reverb on the other instruments making the listener feel present for the recording. There’s a real human being punching in those blasts and the imperfections make it all the more authentic. There are no huge ambitious song structures, just metal thrashing madness, devilish glee and the all-powerful riff.
The exceptions to the rule lie with ‘The Acusser’ and ‘Choshekh’, two brief interludes with the former utilizing tense acoustic guitars and the latter delving into ominous ambience. The rest is ultimately a visceral display of extreme chaos, which must likewise be recognized as fairly one-note in spite of its energy. No one will accuse Incinerated of reinventing the wheel. Nothing here hasn’t been heard before, but it’s a very convincing recreation of extreme metal from its earliest roots. The ‘trve’ metal historians and nostalgia seekers will walk away very pleased after having a gander at Stellar Abomination.
Stellar Abomination is out now via BlackSeed Productions and can be purchased here.
Words: Brett Tharp
