Incarceration - Sacrifice [EP] (2013, F.D.A. Rekotz)

I suppose you could say the Brazilian/German death metal band Incarceration are on the verge of breaking through within the underground of heavy metal. Having garnered much praise through numerous reviews Incarceration is now more or less a household name within certain circles of the underground of old school death metal. I had the extreme pleasure of witnessing their performance at the last edition of the Danish death-festival Kill-Town Death Fest where they played the smallest stage, Dødsmaskinen. Witnessing their savage performance seemed like a privilege in itself, especially with frontman Daniel Duracell smiling broadly the entire time, obviously enjoying what he does even if death metal is of course very serious business.

But enough of this, let us get back to the matter at hand: The band's 2013 EP "Sacrifice". Despite the title, nothing was spared in the production of this EP. From start to finish, this is roughly 10 minutes of death metal the way it's meant to be. Incarceration draws heavily upon the sinister regional sound Duracell's native Brazil became known for in the 80's, but presented in a much more varied and well-produced manner. Though Sacrifice mostly consists of classic death metal songwriting, there are definite hints to other genre tendencies as well. Especially the closing track Cemetery of Lies relies on some hardcore punk-derived mosh parts, letting go of the mainstay two-beats for just a little while. There's not much going on in terms of slowing down except for a few breaks here and there, always keeping things lightning fast and precise.

Most early extreme metal bands like Bathory, Hellhammer, Venom, Sarcófago or Sepultura weren't at the time known for their dedication to being tight. In fact, most were infamously sloppy. Back then that was just how things were, it was part of the scene, a side effect of extremity. As time passed and the genres got more defined, so did the musicians writing and performing the music. With Incarceration, there's absolutely no trace of sloppiness. The trio performs way beyond was is expected from old school death metal throw-back bands of today, and does so without losing one single ounce of the malevolent and chaotic feel those bands had back in the 80's.

I cannot stress enough just how much fans of early death/thrash should check out Incarceration. Whether or not they'll be the next big thing in the underground really doesn't matter, because this is where you will get your fix of flesh-rending guitar hooks, demonic screams and blasting battery. 9/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Forsaken and Forgotten
2. Sacrifice
3. Cemetery of Lies

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