INVOCATOR — Excursion Demise (review)

INVOCATOR — Excursion Demise album cover

Album · 1991 · Technical Thrash Metal

4/5 · 2011-05-18
UMUR

"Excursion Demise" is the debut full-length studio album by Danish thrash metal act Invocator. The album was released in June 1991 by Black Mark Productions. Invocator had been around since 1986, releasing a couple of demos ( among them the "Alterations (1989)" demo, which sold nearly 2000 copies) before entering the Montezuma Studios in Stockholm, Sweden in early 1991 to record "Excursion Demise". The album was generally well received and Invocator toured quite a lot in support of the album. Most notably they secured the job as opening act for Dark Angel on the latter act´s 1992 European tour.

The music style on "Excursion Demise" is extremely aggressive and very, VERY fast-paced/ played thrash metal. The musicians are very skilled and pull off breakneck speed riffing, screaming Slayer style soloing, technical drumming ( just try and count the number of times drummer Per Jensen hits the snare drum on an off beat count during almost any of the ferociously fast played sections on the album) and some caustic rabid dog high pitched snarling to perfection. Invocator are often labelled a death/ thrash act because of the style they play on "Excursion Demise" ( as opposed to the more technical and mid-paced thrash metal variation they would play on the next couple of albums), but while there are a few excursions into death metal territory, they are very few and "Excursion Demise" is generally just a fiercely aggressive thrash metal album. The high end production ( the bass isn´t very audible) provides a caustic edge to the tracks that´s greatly enjoyable. I could mention any track from this album and it would be a highlight, but if I have to chose a few that are slightly more memorable than the rest it would probably be the title track, "Forsaken Ones" and "The Persistence From Memorial Chasm".

"Excursion Demise" is one of the most furiously fast-paced and fiercely aggressive thrash metal album out there. Throughout the 44:28 minutes long playing time Invocator rarely lifts the foot from the pedal. Invocator are relentlessly energetic in their delivery and you´ll have to look long for a breather on "Excursion Demise". Oh well the short acoustic "(...To A Twisted Recess Of Mind)" probably counts as a breather, but other than that, this is quite an exhausting album. That´s meant in a very positive way though. There are references to other brutal/ technical thrash metal acts like Dark Angel, Gammacide, Demolition Hammer, Devastation and Sindrome on the album, but Invocator have a unique style and they don´t really sound like anyone but themselves. With just a little bit more variation "Excursion Demise" could have been what I would have called a masterpiece thrash metal album, but even with some minor flaws this is still a killer album that deserves as much attention as possible from fans of the more aggressive fast-paced part of the thrash metal genre. A 4 - 4.5 star rating is deserved.