Released by: Season Of Mist

Genre: Black metal

Released Date: August 26th, 2016

Links:

http://www.season-of-mist.com/bands/inquisition

https://inquisitionbm.bandcamp.com/

Line up:

Dagon – Vocals, guitar

Incubus – Drums

Tracklist:

Intro: The Force Before Darkness
From Chaos They Came
Wings of Anu
Vortex From the Celestial Flying Throne of Storms
A Black Aeon Shall Cleanse
The Flames of Infinite Blackness Before Creation
Mystical Blood
Through the Divine Spirit of Satan a Glorious Universe is Known
Bloodshed Across The Empyrean Altar Beyond The Celestial Zenith
Power From the Center of the Cosmic Black Spiral
A Magnificent Crypt of Stars
Outro: The Invocation of the Absolute, the all, the Satan
Coda: Hymn to the Cosmic Zenith

Inquisition was formed in 1988 in Cali, Colombia, by Dagon as a thrash metal act named Guillotine. The band changed their name to Inquisition in 1989 and began incorporating more black metal influences. The name, frontman Dagon later explained, was chosen because it represented humanity’s “need to establish dominance, control and order based on a particular period of our world’s history”. Dagon viewed this historical event as emblematic of “man’s (general) need to impose his rule over others”. In 1996, Dagon relocated to the United States and recruited Incubus on drums and Debandt on bass. Debandt departed the band shortly after the release of Inquisition‘s full-length debut, “Into the Infernal Regions of the Ancient Cult.^”The band chose to remain a two piece and all subsequent releases were recorded solely by Dagon and Incubus.

On their seventh offering, this Colombian duo Inquisition, leave us with this perfect soundtrack to sacrificing goats and what not. Along with an epic title, “Bloodshed Across The Empyrean Altar Beyond The Celestial Zenith”, we have some amazing cover art. We get much anticipated new material after Season of Mist re-released the back catalogue, spruced up with stellar art.

“Intro: The Force Before Darkness”, is exactly that, leading into some blistering blast beats from human drum machine Incubus, with opening track “From Chaos They Came”. It only takes fifteen seconds before we are hit with the infamous riff to start all riffs, with Dagon leading the two man army. “Wings of Anu”, is a track that will go down well, a departure from the early days, however the band have matured as can be seen in the writing and song structure. “Vortex From The Celestial Flying Throne Of Storms” accumulates potential energy for a moment, before springing head on into the devouring space with frantic pace. Also taking a risk is the sound of Dagon’s vocals that took a little while to get used to, as the pitch has been lowered, sounding less amphibian, giving a stronger impact, although it is still 100% Inquisition.

There is no filler here and you can easily lose yourself in tracks such as, “A Black Aeon Shall Cleanse” and “The Flames Of Infinite Blackness Before Creation”, which start off slow paced with a steady beat and Dagon’s eerie guitar stylings, leading into “Mystical Blood”, with its blast beats and Dagon singing of Satan, a close mate of his, whom I sure would be banging his head to every note. Other favourite tracks include, “Through the Divine Spirit of Satan a Glorious Universe Is Known”, where the man gets mentioned yet again, even in the title this time. With its nifty guitar solo and acoustic guitar outro, leading into title track, which is an absolute epic piece. The guitar riffs that start out are just a taste of what’s to come. For example, the stomping riffs that you will be banging your head to in no time. “Power from the Center of the Cosmic Black Spiral” is another catapult the album uses to jump into overdrive with the extremely powerful and fist-pumping track “A Magnificent Crypt of Stars”. The dual outro tracks return to the eerie hypnotic ambience of the intro, signifying a cycle of birth and death of the Universe under the galactic law of Satan, everything coming in and out of existence because of him.

So do yourself a favour and go out and grab every record. Worship the amazing black metal created and be sure to back it up with a live experience. Hail Satan! Hail Inquisition!

Written by: Danielle Bates