Incarnated - Pleasure of Consumption review artwork

Rating: 6.0

Country: Poland

Release Date: 2006

Track list:
1. Dying Sounds
2. Blood For Blood
3. Life Organs Transplantation
4. Blood Sign
5. Dead House
6. Human Meat
7. Disturbance Of Consciousness
8. Oscullum Obscenum
9. UFO
10. Ghettoblaster
11. Genetic Deformations (Bonus Demo 1997)
12. Rotten Visions (Bonus Demo 1997)
13. Your Mad Mind (Bonus Demo 1997)

Band Website: Incarnated

Incarnated - Pleasure of Consumption

Pierscien- Guitars/Bass/Vocals
Thomas- Guitars
Bartosh- Drums

The surge of neo-Stockholmism in recent years has been a thoroughly polarizing proposition- many have declaimed it as hackneyed sentimentality or insipid hero-worship, a feeble attempt to resurrect a zeitgeist that dissipated years ago. I can unabashedly state that I LIVE for Sunlight-streaked sounds, and though I pride myself on having a relatively discerning ear, I am more likely than not to shower superlatives on your average bedroom Carnage facsimile. My ardent zealousness, equal parts fanaticism and misty-eyed mawkishness, has revelled in the deluge of post- Left Hand Path -isms that have surfaced of late. Yet, as devout as this pilgrim is to such acrid sounds, one must, invariably, have SOME standards after all. Perusing Incarnated's cursory biographical blurb, I was prepared to issue a generous score on the premise of the band's prudent name-dropping: Entombed, Nihilist, Dismember, Necrony, General Surgery …a band after my own heart! Well-intentioned as they unquestionably are, one wishes Incarnated's execution was commensurate with their distinguished taste.

My foremost grievance concerns the AWFUL mix here- triggered Roddy-lite percussion spills all over the sonic canvas, immediately robbing the recording of much-needed spontaneity and believability. This is exacerbated by vapid, unimaginative double-blast-intensive rhythms, amplified by Bartosh's almost obnoxious prominence in the mix. A flaccid attempt to project the vintage carnivorous Metal Zone guitar sound has also failed spectacularly, and the blanket of compressed guitar merely augments the production's evident faults. Vying for space in this claustrophobic mire of murk are a slew of severely downtuned, nigh near indiscernible riffs that, to their merit, alternate between Necrony and Entombed, though they never truly scale those hallowed peaks. As with many of their ilk, Incarnated are at their best when they plough midtempo territory, though many of their more inspired breaks are themselves marred by gratuitous double-kick abuse and general overdrumming. Inflections of melody materialize sporadically within this jet-black bog (notably in album standout “Life Organs Transplantation”) and one suspects that, if harnessed properly and supplemented with better sound/less overzealous percussion, Incarnated could realize a promise that is only suggested throughout this platter.

To their credit, Incarnated appear to have made tremendous sonic strides since 1997- the grind-slanted '97 demo appended to this record features a tinny, wafer-thin drum sound that aggrieves me far more than that employed on Pleasure of Consumption. Strangely enough, though, this disc's finest moments do not bode well for the album as a whole- the Realm Of Chaos -tinged demo tracks exhibit greater focus than Pleasure Of Consumption, where a note-perfect interpretation of “Osculum Obscenum” effectively eclipses most of the band's original output.

All gripes aside, it would be foolhardy to suggest that Incarnated are entirely bereft of inspiration- though they never reach sublime heights, there are unquestionably a number of passages here that suggest greater promise. Yet, cloaked as these all-too-transient moments are in haphazard production and general mediocrity, it is difficult for me to dismiss my dissatisfaction with this disc. A frustrating outing, if only because I believe these blokes are capable of better.

June 21th, 2007