𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
August 11, 2017 — Incantation released their tenth studio album, Profane Nexus via Relapse Records. (Apple Music or Spotify)
Profane Nexus was their first release on the label since their 2000 album The Infernal Storm. The album was recorded in the band's own Incantation Studios in Johnstown, PA and was mixed and mastered by Dan Swanö.
The album received generally positive reviews from music critics and reached No. 18 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers Chart and No. 32 on the Independent Chart.
Background:
The cover artwork was created by Israeli artist Eliran Kantor based on the album's lyrical themes as explained to him by Chuck Sherwood. In an interview with And Justice For Art, Kantor stated that Sherwood "𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚢𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚘‘𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗,"
Kantor also added that "𝙸 𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛-𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚊𝚛, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊 𝚙𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎." 𝙷𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙽𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝙳𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚊𝚗 𝚍𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚇𝚒𝚙𝚎 𝚃𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌. 𝙲𝚑𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌 𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚘𝚕𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚇𝚒𝚙𝚎 𝚃𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌 𝚊𝚜 “𝙿𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚍 (𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎) 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚞𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝟸𝟶 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝”. 𝙸 𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚗𝚘𝚒𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚊𝚛, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊 𝚙𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎."
Critical Reception:
The album received generally positive reviews from music critics. Critics noted that Profane Nexus is a logical continuation of the typical Death-Doom style of Metal that Incantation have performed on previous albums, but Decibel Magazine described the album as "𝙸𝚗𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗’𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜", while both Exclaim! and Decibel praised the "𝚍𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚢" of songs on the album as "𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐." Critics also noted the ominous, disturbing atmosphere and the strong songwriting.
Metal Injection wrote;
"𝙸𝚝’𝚜 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚛."
José Carlos Santos of Terrorizer Magazine gave the album a high rating, and wrote;
"𝚃𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚑 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕-𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚝𝚑, 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚎 𝙽𝚎𝚡𝚞𝚜, 𝚒𝚜 𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝙸𝚗𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗... 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍‘𝚜 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚛𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚎... 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚣𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛."
Sputnikmusic were more critical of the album, writing;
"𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚝𝚒𝚍𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚎𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚁𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚙𝚜𝚎 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚛-𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚎."
Watch the official music video for Messiah Nostrum via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/music-video/messiah-nostrum/1268277890
Watch the official music video for Messiah Nostrum via YouTube: https://youtu.be/KHnliGRvbgI
Notice: Any reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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