Metal Underground.com

Not even counting the name, Incendiant reminds me a lot of the great 90s monster Immolation. Angular riffs that utterly refuse any melody, menacing vocals, the absolute dedication to a death metal style that once was. In style, this self-titled release tries to replicate those great relics of the past, holy grails like "Deicide" and "Scream Bloody Gore."

At it's base however and unlike most death metal, this music feels very constrained. As if locked into a set of rails that stop it ever veering off a well trodden path, this album seems like a failed struggle to do something that Immolation, Deicide, or countless others haven't done before. It's unabashedly death metal of the early 90s America era and if you've heard mid-period Deicide you'll know what you're in for (except without the Scott Burns production). While dry 90s death metal had it's attracting points, a mediocrity manifests itself in the lack of dynamics - the tempo of the tracks feels quite constant and never really hits a very fast or slow pace. The drums start looking especially guilty here as the songs begin to scream for an injection of real pace to counter the chronic lack.

The vocals again are pretty standard for a death metal band. You've got the raspy vocals quickly interchanging with the guttaral vocals which are in a high enough register to hear the lyrics. I prefer gutteral vocals to be all the way down in the gutter, a gurgle echoing blood and mud. But if you prefer the higher mixed rasped style then that's what Incendiant will dish you up in disgruntled truckloads. The lyrics were also the typical death metal fare but a good read none the less.

Every song or two an energized riff or solo will pop up piquing my interest, but eventually it all ebbs back to the standard fare. "Incendiant" is not a bad release, but certainly would be nothing that new even if it had been released in 1990.