siLLy puPPy A staggering 36 years since its inception and more than a quarter century since the band’s proper debut “Into The Infernal Regions of the Ancient Cult,” the croaking Colombians known as INQUISITION have not only found a new landing spot in Seattle, USA but have been one of the most consistently original and evil as fuck bands to navigate the world of gnarly goat fueled Satanic black metal. Pretty much the mere duo of Dagon and Incubus, INQUISITION has a larger than life presence on the scene as well as a propensity for lengthy and ominous album titles. Keeping their release schedule of an album every three or four years, these guys follow their 2020 release “Black Mass For A Mass Grave” with the latest addition VENERATION OF MEDIEVAL MYSTICISM AND COSMOLOGICAL VIOLENCE.

Well, surprise, surprise! It’s another orotund black metal buzzsaw guitar chug-a-thon that showcases the band’s 9th album and continues the eerie stylistic approach that has kept these guys one of the most popular bands in the black metal universe. VENERATION stays true to the band’s classic style while continuing to evoke the majestic throne of Satan while navigating the themes of cosmology, metaphysical concepts and all things lurking in the shadows. Not one to detour to overtly into the world of experimentation, INQUISITION retains its classic sound of highly distorted guitars with no bassist as well as Dagon’s most distinct trademark of all, his creepy croaking vocal style which alone sets this band apart from any other. Add to that the idiosyncratic drumming style of Incubus that eschews any technical workouts or blastbeat frenzies but rather simply accents the main rhythm patterns.

Also INQUISITION continues its propensity of dishing out addictive hooky tracks that somehow torture simple melodic grooves into veritable black metal ugliness. What’s new this time around is indeed a bit more of a diverse approach with Dagon expanding his vocal style a bit. In addition to the low guttural rasps is a few moments of clean vocals although kept in a totally evil as fuck style. The track “Infinity Is The Aeon Of Satan” even showcases a backing choir that evokes a Christian ritual but twisted into an evil invocation of the adversary. And of course it wouldn’t be an INQUISITION album without some tribute to the nebulous concepts of some sort of cosmic mysticism and spiritual battles for the promised land where Satan himself rules supreme. In other words, it’s pretty much business as usual for INQUISITION but when business is good there’s no reason to change the merchandise!

For any long time follower of INQUISITION, VENERATION OF MEDIEVAL MYSTICISM AND COSMOLOGICAL VIOLENCE will serve as yet another chapter in this black metal act’s long and established canon. While an anomaly or two does arise in the course of the album’s 45 minute plus playing time, for the most part this is INQUISITION doing what it does best and that would be crafting an album’s worth of instantly likable tracks that never stray too far from the playbook but vary just enough in melodic developments, tempos and riffing styles that it keeps you tuned in for the wild ride. And best of all INQUISITION retains its dynamic individual stamp that is so very hard to retain in the ever increasing crowded world of black metal. In fact i still have not heard another band that sounds like this one. As it stands this release won’t win over any new fans based on its content but for those already in the astral cult, this one won’t disappoint as it delivers the same quality content that pretty much every album has for over 25 years now.

siLLy puPPy As one of black metal’s most unholy cheerleaders for evoking the throne of Satan and all that good old fashioned misanthropy and pure evil shit, INQUISITION has been one of the few bands on the black metal scene that actually has forged a unique path without sacrificing all the roots that connect them to the second wave black metal scene. Formed in Colombia all the way back in 1988 by guitarist / vocalist Dagon, the moniker was changed to INQUISITION and relocated to the US where the band exists in Seattle at the present.

Having traversed three decades of extreme metal trends, INQUISITION has remained faithful to its past but craftily adds enough new elements on every album to keep the black metal underpinnings from fizzling out into generic irrelevance. Come 2020 and the band’s eighth album BLACK MASS FOR A MASS GRAVE and nothing has really changed in that department. Still simply a duo where Dagon performs vocals, guitars, keyboards and all songwriting duties, the only other performer Incubus is around for the ride as the carbon-based drumming machine to punctuate the blackened fury with the proper percussive outrage.

BLACK MASS FOR A MASS GRAVE is a lengthy blackened beast with twelve tracks that sprawl just shy of the 75 minute mark making this the lengthiest INQUISITION release to date although the band’s debut “Into the Infernal Regions of the Ancient Cult” from 1998 came close at a 66 minute running time. Despite the three decades of head banging and Satanic worship, INQUISITION is just as dedicated to usurping the throne with dark priestly duties and bringing about the anti-Christ or whatever Satanists do but who cares really! I’m just in it for the music and BLACK MASS FOR A MASS GRAVE showcases yet another avenue of exploration within the seemingly endless possibilities for expansive black metal cosmos.

The first thing noticeable about BLACK MASS FOR A MASS GRAVE is that the tempos are much slower and sludgier than the canon of quickened firebombs that came before. Slinking along often at the pace of doom or sludge metal on the faster side of the spectrum, BLACK MASS features the usual melody meets dissonance shtick with twin guitar outbursts, one the buzzsaw guitar fueled underpinning and another the melodic counterpoint that provides guitar licks and psychedelic accouterments. The album also has a noticeably vaster role for the keyboards as well with an almost martial rhythmic drive of the percussive drive which more often than not crafts tasty fills rather than the rampaging blastbeats of yore but they do still exist and used more sparingly for contrast.

This album is much more explorative in many ways although the main staple of black metal bombast and detachment is firmly in tact. There is much more attention paid to production and mixing on BLACK MASS than on previous albums although INQUISITION has never been afraid of employing modern micro-elements to bring out the melodic subplots of the ugly distorted chug-tests employed through the series of blackened guitar riffs and rampaging drum rolls. Dagon’s croaking vocal style is pushed lower down in the mix as the creepy guitar swells overpower them. There has been a huge interest in adding psychedelic elements to black metal in the last decade since bands like Oranssi Pazuzu and Blue Aus Nord have taken black metal into ever more surreal arenas and INQUISITION seems to be following those trends without fully cutting the umbilical cord of its origins.

INQUISITION is either a band you’re going to warm up to or not as Dagon’s croaky vocal style is surely an acquired taste but in reality black metal is supposed to be about crafting some of the most gnarled and repulsive sound combos in all of extreme metal and INQUISITION has not only followed the recipe to a hilt but has bucked the odds and managed to stand out from the legion of imitators of second wave pioneers. Add to that this band has managed to keep its black metal integrity and forging new techniques on each of the eight studio albums and in that regard BLACK MASS does not disappoint. While some may find this too melodic, too reliant on keyboard sounds for contrast and oft too slow to the point that it drifts into doom metal turf, i’m actually very fond of diversity of tones, timbres and tempos which keep the album from stagnating. After a four year absence INQUISITION is back and just as strong as ever. There’s nothing on BLACK MASS that will attract new members to the cult but for those already indoctrinated, this one is just as excellent as any other album that came before. Triumphant i say!

siLLy puPPy While INQUISITION formed in 1989 as a thrash band in Cali, Colombia sounding more like Sodom and Kreator, frontman Dagon felt the thrash world had gotten stagnant and found the black metal scene more to the style of his liking. While the band released the “Anxious Death” EP in 1990 while still in Colombia, the band which consisted of Dagon (vocals, guitars), Cesar Santa (bass) and John Santa (drums) completely changed from the trash metal sound on that EP and veered towards a black metal sound influenced by early Bathory, Burzum, Immortal and the Polish black metal scene once Dagon relocated to Seatlle, WA in the USA where they would finally release the second EP titled INCENSE OF REST.

INCENSE OF REST is only a nineteen minute EP that consists of five tracks and serves as a transition album of sorts between the pure thrash years and the more familiar black metal style that would gel on the debut full-length release “Into the Infernal Regions of the Ancient Cult” Despite the cheesy synth-laden intro, the EP bursts into lo-fi black metal fairly quickly however at this point a couple things remain from the past. Firstly the riffing if more akin to thrash albeit darkened and more evil sounding and secondly Dagon’s vocals hadn’t yet taken on the more familiar croaking sound but rather take on various personas ranging from a deep raspiness, to a high pitched raspy scream as well as a few clean vocals strewn about.

The harsh thrash leanings are most prevalent on “Encounter In The Deep Shadows” with the chugga chug riffing but the atmospheres are definitely darkened and heading into the black metal turf as this track displays a rather cheesy sounding keyboard tag along. After moving to the US, the band basically become a duo with Dagon handling guitars, bass and vocals and John Santa on drums. “Visions Of The Pagan Lord” take a more early Nokturnal Mortem approach with introductory synth lines but are fairly brief before it turns into lo-fi black metal with thrash leanings.

The strangest track on board is the closing instrumental “Meditation Before The Kill” which implements clean guitars and a flute which sounds more like a new age album of some sort and doesn’t fit in at all. While not a perfect specimen of the black metal scene by any means, INCENSE OF REST is a decent slice of raw thrash infused black metal with all the lo-fi demeanor one could hope for and except for the silly instrumental closer shows INQUISITION inching closer to the classic sound that would take the underground metal world by storm in a couple years. Dagon had a hard time keeping bassists and it was at this point where the they simply carried on without one and hired a session musician whenever needed.

siLLy puPPy Before moving to the USA and into their much more familiar black metal career, INQUISITION originated in Cali, Colombia and began as a thrash metal band in the style of Sadus and Kreator in terms of songwriting and deliver. While the band has had its biggest known albums in the new millennium they actually started all the way back in 1988 and was founded by Dagon (vocals / guitars). On these early albums John Santa performed the percussion parts and from this very first EP release ANXIOUS DEATH and throughout the band’s entire career beginning on this early release there has never been a separate bassist with Dagon handling all guitar and bass duties.

INQUISITION had a black metal lo-fi attitude right from the beginning and it’s apparent by listening to their first offering and with the black and red hellish album cover art and Satanic themes that they were a little more in tune with early Celtic Frost, Slayer and Sepultura than the contemporary world of early 90s thrash. In addition to the demonic distortion on the guitar sound, there is also periods of keyboards that build dark and depressive atmospheric dread only to be broken by pummeling thrash metal guitar riffs and hyperactive drum abuse. Like many of the more uncompromising thrash bands of the era Dagon incorporates those little high pitched squeals on guitar as he engaged in the old school thrash metal style that fits in perfectly with the world of Kreator type bands.

This short but sweet 20 minute and 8 second EP contains three tracks that play thrash but scream black metal. Dagon’s vocal delivery is much more akin to 90s black metal shrieks more than anything intelligible in the popular thrash world but the guitar riffs and drumming are very much still on full thrash mode, however he stays just a pubic hair inside the the boundaries of the thrash metal genre for the music to fully be described as a true hybrid of the two styles. The result of this is one of those rare occasions of a blackened thrash metal experience. As you might expect with a lo-fi early release from a then unsigned band, the production and sound quality are very much in the demo release mode and as raw and lo-fi as you can get without being horrible. The music however is some very well played blackened thrash metal that develops the themes appropriately slight bordering on tech but also maintains a healthy atmospheric layer of metal attitude. This is a pretty decent debut although far from falling into the classification of essential.

Warthur Inquisition by this point had more or less settled on a style - take croaky vocals, Satyricon-styled classic second wave black metal, and outrageously psychedelic occult and mystical themes, and blend them all together and what do you get? Apparently, the answer is "Ominous Doctrines of the Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm", and whilst it's not too different from Inquisition's preceding albums it's a fun enough listen. Dagon's vocal style takes some getting used to, sure, but the same is true both of "standard" black metal vocal styles (remember when you first listened to this stuff and it sounded super weird?) and all the truly unique and special vocalists in the subgenre like Atila or Dead, and when you combine a vocal style crammed with that much personality with competently executed black metal you are usually in for a treat.

Those who prefer to avoid NSBM releases if possible should note that the album bears the artwork of "Antichrist" Kramer, a big supporter of the NSBM scene, and came out on No Colours (who aren't an official NSBM label but equally aren't very picky about who they sign); since its release Dagon's convictions over child sex abuse images have also come to light. Star rating is based on music only, I leave it to you to decide whether or not you want to pay money for this. Personally, I think there's plenty of black metal out there in this general style which doesn't involve such baggage.