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Post by Whisper Supremacy on Mar 16, 2016 8:34:15 GMT 7
Invocator - Excursion DemiseNuclear Blast Records - 1991 1. Excursion Demise 05:36 2. ( ...to a Twisted Recess of Mind) 00:33 3. Forsaken Ones 05:56 4. The Persistence from Memorial Chasm 04:09 5. Absurd Temptation 06:56 6. Schismatic Injective Therapy 07:17 7. Occurence Concealed 03:47 8. Beyond Insufferable Dormancy 05:43 9. Inner Contrarieties 04:31Jacob Hansen - Vocals, Guitars Jesper M. Jensen - Bass Per M. Jensen - Drums Jakob Schultz - Guitars The track "Excursion Demise" is featured on the '92 Touch of Evil compilation from Black Mark Productions. Vibeke Johansson - Cover art Boss - Producer Rex - Engineering [ DOWNLOAD ] * Openload
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Post by Crucial Review on Mar 16, 2016 11:16:09 GMT 7
If you thought Artillery was the only thrash band from Denmark conjuring up some wicked metal, then Invocator is here to enlighten you with their brand of technical thrash. I'm not saying that these guys are better than Artillery, because they're not. "By Inheritance" is one of the greatest thrash albums ever made, but "Excursion Demise" isn't bad either and is probably better than some of Artillery's material. While both bands play the more technical style of thrash, there is absolutely no way that Invocator could be mixed up with Artillery.
The most notable difference is definitely the speed and the death metal influence on "Excursion Demise." These crazy danish bastards really wanted to go fast because this record is pretty much a blitzkrieg throughout with an occasional midpaced moment. Luckily for Invocator, they knew that an album consisting of nothing but speed throughout could get a little dull after awhile, and they manage to mix in some nice breaks here and there. Some of them are extremely headbang friendly ("The Persistence From Memorial Chasm" and "Schismatic Injective Therapy") and add some heaviness to this speed-demon. Along with the occasional breaks in tracks the instrumental featuring a near-sinister sounding acoustic "(...To A Twisted Recess of Mind)" serves as a great transition between the title track (The best song on this record by the way) and "Forsaken Ones."
As mentioned earlier, this record is ridiculously fast, which is both a positive and a negative on "Excursion Demise." It's a positive because there are plenty of stellar riffs here and there that are a result of the speed. The riffs found in the songs "Beyond Insufferable Dormancy" and the title track are fantastic. They tend to follow a more death metal style, but they're more controlled and are perfect for headbanging along to. As for the negative part, some of the riffs just come off as spastic or repetitive. There aren't any songs in particular because this is present in a lot of them, but there is usually a really good riff in the same song to make up for it.
Another negative aspect of this album is the length of the tracks. I have no problems with longer songs, as long as they can keep my attention and to be honest Invocator failed there for the most part. "Schismatic Injective Therapy" is probably the biggest victim of this. There are definitely some moments of brilliance shown on the track but it goes on too long and could have been cut down a bit. If a band is going to write songs that are longer, they need to have enough dynamics in the music to keep one interested, not sit there and wank on the guitar solos. Seriously, these guys put a lot of attention on the guitar solos, and while they're not horrible they're nothing special and they dominate the music for quite some time. To put things simple, there should have been more focus on the riffs and overall structure than spending too much time being a fretboard warrior.
Aside from those problems there is a lot right with this album. Jacob Hansen's vocal performance is a definite highlight here. He sounds like a really sweet mix of Chuck Schuldiner and Chris Bailey, and the way he just spits out the words in rapid-fire fashion reminds one of Steve Reynolds. It doesn't matter if he's barking out lyrics at the speed of the extremely fast riffs or if he's singing with the heavier midpaced riffs, Hansen's performance deserves a beer because it's really well done. The drumming isn't anything too special but the speed on this record has a lot to do with the intense work behind the kit. The bass playing here is pretty tight and even gets some moments to shine on its own ("Occurrence Concealed" and "(...To A Twisted Recess of Mind)").
The verdict here? Invocator's debut album "Excursion Demise" is some very solid metal that any fan of thrash should be able to enjoy. This record definitely could have been better, but it's still a very worthwhile album that possesses some top-notch material and another that proved there was some great thrash in the nineties.
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Post by Crucial Review on Mar 16, 2016 11:17:14 GMT 7
1988 – Invocator’s first demo "Genetic Confusion" is released. The band play numerous shows. Among other supporting Artillery.
1989 - "Alterations", the demo that sold nearby 2000 copies, is released. The band play successful shows with bands like Entombed, Edge Of Sanity, Psychotic Waltz, Gorefest, Incubus (now Opprobrium), etc. etc. Invocator sign with Swedish/German label Black Mark Production.
1991 - The debut album "Excursion Demise" is recorded at Montezuma Studios, Stockholm (SWE) where bands like Memento Mori and Edge Of Sanity etc. have recorded albums. Nominated for a Danish Grammy for "best heavy metal album of the year".
1992 - Invocator again plays numerous shows (Evil Dead, Laaz Rockit, Massacre, Immolation, Pungent Stench, Atrocity etc.) and tour with legendary Dark Angel throughout Europe. Roskilde Festival is played in front of 5.000 people.
1994 - The recordings of 2nd album "Weave The Apocalypse" commence with engineer/producer Eric Greif, a.o. Death producer ("Spiritual Healing"). Tour with Paradise Lost on their "Icon" Denmark tour. Supports Sepultura at their Danish "Arise" show. Invocator records 2 cover songs for a CD featuring the old demotapes in a remastered version. The cover songs are "The Promise Of Agony" originally performed by Dark Angel, and "The Eternal War" (Artillery). The CD is called "Early Years" and marks a label change from Black Mark to Progress/Die Hard Music.
1995 - "Dying To Live", the bands third album is being recorded, Denmark is toured, but the chemistry within the band suffers from different musical directions and the band decides to split.
Invocator 2000-2001: Old frontman, guitarist and vocalist Jacob Hansen starts to write new songs together with guitarist Flemming C. Lund (ex-Autumn Leaves). A temporary drummer is found in Brian Rasmussen (Behind The Curtain, Mnemic), and the demo 2002 is recorded. As Jacob Hansen has been in more or less constant contact with earlier bassplayer Carsten N. Mikkelsen who played on "Dying To Live", it's obvious that Carsten could be the bassplyare of the band. He had been playing all kinds of music at preschool to the conservatory, and here he met drummer Jakob Gundel (ex-Withering Surface). When Jacob and Flemming spoke to Carsten about the job as a bassplayer, Carsten mentioned Gundel, and an audition was made. It was obvious that this was the right person to fill the job description!
The new line-up: Jacob Hansen - Guitar & Vocals Flemming C. Lund - Lead guitar Carsten N. Mikkelsen - bass Jakob Gundel - drums.
What happened to the old members? Guitarist and vocalist Jacob Hansen ran a recordshop and a recordlabel, but is now focusing on a prosperous producer-career. Drummer Per M. Jensen played in Danish metal band Konkhra, but has now joined Swedish The Haunted. Bassplayer Carsten Mikkelsen went to music school and is now working as a music teacher. Guitarist Perle Hansen got himself a job and is currently more or less out of the music business.
Discography: "Excursion Demise" Black Mark 1991 "Weave The Apocalypse" Black Mark 1994 "Early Years" Progress/Die Hard Music 1994 "Dying To Live" Progress/Die Hard Music 1995 "Altar Of Sacrifice" - coversong on Slaytanic Slaughter I (Slayer Tribute)
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Post by Crucial Review on Mar 16, 2016 11:18:26 GMT 7
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