Invocation are a black/death metal band from Chile and this is their debut album.
Invocation impressed me with their 2016 demo release Seance – Part: 1, so it’s great to finally have a full album off them, a mere eight years later, (the band haven’t been idle though, as they’ve released two EPs during that time).
The Archaic Sanctuary (Ritual Body Postures) contains 34 minutes of raging blackened death metal. The album fuses its black and death metal halves into a savage assault that’s withering. The two components are well-balanced, and while you could likely get away with labelling the band as either really, they lean more to the death metal side than not. Either way, The Archaic Sanctuary (Ritual Body Postures) is a whirlwind of quality black/death metal, that’s the main thing.
Invocation walk the line between thoughtful attack and thoughtless aggression throughout The Archaic Sanctuary (Ritual Body Postures), to good effect. The band offer up music that’s focused on its barbaric art, yet also unrestrained enough to unleash feral Hell on all-comers. It’s well-constructed and written, but also primitive and harsh. There is depth of delivery and menacing atmosphere, while also being savagely brutal.
The songs are satisfying and enjoyable. They are raw and unburnished, but the lack of polish reveals music that’s well-crafted and imbued with grim macabre atmosphere. Invocation understand their material well, delivering a brutal onslaught that nonetheless also provides dark moods and macabre nuance in the right places. There’s also an undeniable charisma here that’s infectious; the music sounds authentic and honest. Invocation clearly love what they do, and that merely enriches the strong songwriting.
The Archaic Sanctuary (Ritual Body Postures) is the sort of relentlessly malignant album that’s filled to the brim with darkness and hostility. Adherents of the underground extremity will find much to salivate over here.
Very highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 