Archive for Incassum

Incassum confirmed for Bloodstock and announce winter 2013 dates

Posted in News with tags , , , , , , , on 29th July 2013 by Nico Solheim-Davidson, the North Sea Poet

Manchester’s top melodic metal act Incassum have been confirmed for this year’s Bloodstock where they’ll play the Jagermeister Acoustic Stage at 6:40pm on Saturday 10th August. Incassum have also announced their first dates for the winter of 2013 including a special Hallowe’en show in their hometown of Manchester with Evil Scarecrow.

As well as Bloodstock and the Winter shows, the band also has a small number of other summer festival appearances. The schedule so far is as follows, with plenty more dates to be added….

August

3rd : Rotherham, Khaos Festival
10th : Derby, Bloodstock Open Air
23rd : Bromsgrove, Beermageddon

October

5th : Great Yarmouth, The Oakwood (w/Babylon Fire)
18th : Birmingham, Asylum 2 (w/Triaxis)
30th : Manchester, Grand Central (w/Evil Scarecrow and Bloodyard)

November

3rd : Lancaster, Yorkshire House (w/Bloodyard)

Incassum online:

http://www.incassum.com
http://www.facebook.com/Incassum

 

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Incassum – Rite of Passage

Posted in Review with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on 12th November 2012 by mariadodarmata

Incassum
Rite of Passage
Released: November 24th
Melodic Death Metal
Released via Rocksector Records

Rite of Passage came to my hands – my cybernetic hands -  when I was asked if I wanted to review a female fronted melodic death metal band [editor’s note: I never told Maria the band have a female vocalist]. Personally, I hate when female fronted bands use that female factor as a “Look at me! I’m special!” card – Though some bands do need it.

The words fast and aggressive describe this album pretty good. It gives me that feeling of craving headbanging to it even in the most awkward, crowded public places. The clean vocals and occasional acoustic guitars come and refresh the songs, taking away that cheesy feeling some death metal bands have after a few songs.

Listening to Incassum, I can’t help but to think about a now extinct Prog Metal band from my area. From the vocal style to the music they are quite alike and it gives me a pleasant flashback. Sadly enough it also takes me back 5-6 years to the time I would listen to stuff that sounded brOOtal just for the sake of being brOOtal.

Sharleen Kennedy’s vocals are a mix of Candace Kucsulain (Walls of Jericho) with Lacey Mosley (ex-Flyleaf) and the music seems to me to be a mix of Swedish Death Metal with a couple of touches of Prog Rock, a tiny bit or Core and a teaspoon of Opeth’s  mysticism. To some point, it actually had a bit of a Dethklok feeling to it.

Although I have mixed feelings about the album I’m going leave those subjective matters aside and tell you that Rite of Passage is a good Melodic Death metal album. It moves away from what the Finnish have done to the genre – though I will clarify, I adore Finnish death metal. Incassum is like a breath of fresh air out of that melancholic aura that Melodeath is now. To make it into a pretty analogy, it is like climbing to a tree top after being lost for weeks in the black forest.

Incassum are not one of those bands that play on the female factor. They should get rid of the Arch Enemy stigma associated to that kind of bands and just promote themselves as what they are: A good Melodic Death Metal band.

4/5

María Mata

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Band of the Month [March 2012]: Incassum

Posted in Band Of The Month with tags , , , , , , on 2nd March 2012 by Nico Solheim-Davidson, the North Sea Poet

This month’s Band of the Month come in the form of Manchester-based melodic metallers Incassum. The band blend a vicious combination of melodic vocals, snarling growls and screams with a hint of face tearing riffs. I was lucky enough to have seen Incassum back in November when they were touring with Spires.

Incassum are certainly one of the few bands that bring their all to both the studio and the stage.

The band will also be playing at Valkyrian Festival, in aid of Autism Plus later this year at The Lamp in Hull.

In the mean time, here’s a video of Incassum performing at The Ringside in Hull.

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Spires + Incassum + Support @ The Ringside, Hull [Live Review]

Posted in Gig, Live with tags , , , , , , on 27th November 2011 by Nico Solheim-Davidson, the North Sea Poet

Bands: Spires, Incassum, Infernal Creation
Location: The Ringside, Hull
Date: 26th November

As part of their Terrorizer-sponsored tour, the Manchester-based Spires and Incassum arrived in the grim city of Hull. The original line-up for the night consisted of Mister Sister Fister, Infernal Creation, Incassum and Spires. Unfortunately, Mister Sister Fister had to pull out last minute due to their drummer already being booked for at work for the night. After reviewing Incassum and Spires earlier this week for the site – and Infernal Creation for my “rivals” over at Denim and Leather, I already had an idea of what the night would consist.

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Though I was tending the doors for the promoter, I had a perfect view of the stage as Hull’s very own misanthropic beast of a metal band, Infernal Creation, graced the room with their presence of stage. They’re definitely a band who need no introductions, however when the voice of misanthropy, Neiph, did introduce the band, he took the opportunity to announce their next song as well, by stating in a grim, almost-messianic way: “We are Infernal Creation… And we speak of the Insidious Gospel”. As I stated earlier, I already had an idea of what to expect for tonight but I didn’t expect Infernal Creation’s sound to be so aggressive and heavy live. The snarling screams and roaring of guitars, topped off with thunderous drums just made their performance so much better. The band played a few songs such as “War Is Worship” and “The Angel Of Endless Hunger” from the new album, The Serpent Seed Doctrine, and in all honestly, they sounded as good as the studio versions.

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The female-fronted force of violent melodic metal that is Incassum wasted no time getting to the stage – Something that did impress since some bands do like to pansy foot around in the interval. In fact, they were all set to play when I was half way through smoking a roll-up. Fortunately I could hear them clearly outside while I was smoking. With female-fronted bands, there seems to be a stereotype that they all have operatic vocalists but the good thing about Incassum is that they don’t cater themselves to such stereotypes. Their In Vain EP is an example of this and their live performance certainly showed that they’re better than most female-fronted bands. The violent sounds of the guitars echoed well throughout the venue and the band’s set showed some clear influences of melodic and technical death metal. The thing that really did impress me the most about Incassum’s set – aside from the music – was the way that the frontwoman, Sharleen, so easily transited between roaring vocals mightier than thunder and a softer, more angelic vocal style almost as if it was as natural as breathing. Incassum made Arch Enemy sound like pop rock, a potentially blasphemous comment no doubt but if you’ve seen them live, you’ll agree. Their song “Cut Loose” certainly seemed to go down well with the crowd.

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The headliner of the night were the extreme-prog. metal quartet that are Spires. I had already been assured by the guys in Infernal Creation that these guys are great live as Infernal had done a gig with them roughly a year and a half ago. They performed a truly tight set that displayed a masterful combination of progressive elements, more brutal sounds and a strong use of vocals. The solos were easy of the ears as well. Spires performed a new song as well – I think they said it was called “The Fevered Spirit”, either way, it was a masterful combination of aggression, progressive metal and strong vocal work. These guys are definitely a band I’d recommend everyone go see live. Though the opening act had dropped out last minute, the night’s entertainment was still provided by three great bands. Any of them would have gone down well as the headlining act as well and the people certainly got their £3’s worth.

Nico Davidson

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Spires – Spiral Of Ascension [2010]

Posted in Review with tags , , , , , , on 22nd November 2011 by Nico Solheim-Davidson, the North Sea Poet

Band: Spires
Album: Spiral Of Ascension
Release year: 2010
Genre: Progressive Metal

Manchester based prog. metallers Spires began initially as the brain child of vocalist, frontman and producer Paul Sadler [ex InSlience/Tomb]. After completing the line-up, consisting of Paul Cuthbert [Guitar], Alex Jolley [Bass] and Chris Barnard [Drums] the band soon began gigging, making their live shows a testament to their dedication and passion for the music they write. November 2010 saw the release of their highly anticipated album Spires Of Ascension.

“Equilibrium” starts with a very progressive sounding introduction, similar to those that can be found on an Opeth track. The vocals are calm and soothing, an odd contrast with the guitars – Well, that is until the vocals turn more raw and aggressive with elements of a death metal style thrown in as well just to spice things up. The drums hold their own nicely through out the track. The guitar solo feels too early on in the track, being virtually at the halfway point. The second guitar solo feels more at home towards the end. The album moves onto “The Infinite End”, beginning calmly before slowly changing into a hulk-like raid of furious metal. The vocals keep things interesting with their death metal stylings, especially when combined with the technical and melodic guitar licks.

“Nightfall” starts with the relaxing sound of rain before the acoustic riffs coolly walk into the song, giving the listener a small break before 13 and a half minute track that is “Broken Hourglass”. The use of thunder during in the song gives the track some form of atmosphere. “Broken Hourglass” is quite eerie at the beginning – Whether this is due to the sound of the guitar or the riff being played, I will never know unless I ask the band, which at this time of morning would be a stupid idea. Anyway, back to the review – The song progresses into heavier and technical musings but still retains that eerie sound in certain sections. The clean use of vocals make a mighty return to the album during in the track. The guitars switch between clean and heavy, though mostly staying clean and melodic adding for a very progressive sound for the first half of the track. The main negative issue with the track is its length – It’s too long for the casual listener of progressive metal and may even seem dull after a few minutes. Roughly half way through, the demonic-like growls can be heard, adding a spark of freshness to the song.

”Symmetry” has a very soft rock ambience to its sound, perfect for chilling out to though this may or may not have been the intention of the band during its composition. The vocals are strong, blending well with the music. The ten piece composition that is “Martyr” follows after, beginning in a more progressive and alternative vein before evolving into something heavier and more technical. After a while, it does revert back to the softer, progressive sound, which a shame since the death metal sound is catchy in a weird sense. The vocals are diverse, like the music, which is to be expected and there’s even a cheeky use of female vocals as well to add that extra bit of spice to the already tasty mix of sounds. Coming towards the end of the album is none other than the title track, “Spiral Of Ascension”. Like the previous tracks, it has a soft, progressive sounding introduction that is both melodic and easy on the ears. The vocals begin out clean and it is a while before the song turns from a Dr Jekkyl-like sound into a more beastly Dr Hyde-like sound. The track definitely demonstrates the different influences the band have and they clearly merge them together into a masterpiece with this one track.

“A New Prayer”, which is the bonus track, finalises the album with a soft but mystifying guitar riff that slowly grows into a loud, volcanic roar of unrelenting force and power with little nibbles of melodic compositions. The other parts of the track are more along the lines of a furious assault of gunfire-styled drums and guitars before retreating back into a soft section.

“Spires Of Ascension” is kind of like the British offspring of Emperor and Opeth minus the symphonic elements. The album is enjoyable for the most part though a fan of progressive metal might struggle to find the enjoyment straight away. Definitely an album worth checking out for fans of Emperor, Opeth and Mastodon.

4.8/5

Nico Davidson

Spires will be touring with Incassum later this month. See below for dates:

24/11 NEWCASTLE TRILLIANS – FREE ENTRY!
25/11 BRADFORD RIOS
26/11 HULL RINGSIDE
27/11 GRIMSBY YARDBIRDS
30/11 KINGSTON THE PEEL
01/12 READING FACE BAR
02/12 DERBY OLD BELL
04/12 MANCHESTER ALTER EGO + ‘SWORN TO OATH’

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Incassum – In Vain [2008]

Posted in Review with tags , , , , , , , on 22nd November 2011 by Nico Solheim-Davidson, the North Sea Poet

Band: Incassum
Album: In Vain
Release year: 2008
Genre: Melodic Metal/Gothic Metal

Incassum are a five piece female-fronted melodic Gothic metal outfit hailing from Manchester. They’ve supported big acts such as Blaze Bayley [Former Iron Maiden frontman], Breed 77 and others. The band have also headlined their own shows at venues such as Manchester Academy. 2008 saw the release of their EP “In Vain”.

The EP takes up a dark and tense beginning in the form of “The Beckoning”. Before the vocals are heard, the guitars display a beautiful use of melodic riffs that are combined an intelligent use of drum work. The guitars create a very tense, dramatic and atmospheric feel that is usually only achieved by keyboards. The vocals do take the listener by surprise. The vocals are along the lines of death metal and black metal, so definitely a bonus for fans of Astarte and Arch Enemy. In true Gothic metal style, there is a use of clean, harmonic vocals as well, though not overly operatic as is the stereotype with Gothic metal these days. Musically, the track is like a raging bull charging its way through the crowds at the “Running of the Bulls”.

“History Repeats” hits the listener like a mortar hitting a tank, beginning with a catchy, face-melting riff followed by a powerful vocal section. The drums offer up a deliciously rhythmic taster of what’s to come during in the rest of the track. The guitars tease the listener, keeping their attention while the vocal sections progress into a happy medium of harsh and clean. The most hypnotic and enchanting aspect of the track is the solo. “Space To Breathe” takes the listener down a heavier, brutal path with a masterful combination of clean female vocals and harsher male vocals. The guitars conjure together a well-constructed wall of musical genius and the drums force upon the listener an assault of metallic proportions. “So Red” ambushes the listener’s ears with a delicate guitar intro which is joined by strong yet gentle vocals and a calm drum section. The song hints at heavier progressions though the real heaviness doesn’t occur until the second half of the song.

“All These Lies” starts with drums and bass – Not the techno/dance music kind either – before a crash of thunderous guitars shred their way through the track. The clean vocals are powerful, strong and oddly more impressive than the growls – Which are still pretty beastly. The drums fit their placement well, keeping everything tight. The use of backing growls fits in perfectly with the cleaner vocal style as well, adding a certain beauty and the beast effect to the music. The breakdown – Well, I’m assuming it to be a breakdown since I have difficulty recognising one – does throw the track off a little. The EP comes to a melodic end with the title track “In Vain”. The melodic-styled intro lulls the listener into a calm state of mind before unleashing a raging storm of metal that sounds like a combination of death metal and speed metal – Not that there’s anything wrong with that! The drums certainly add that extra special vitamin known as pure brutality to the song while the contrasting vocal styles keep the track diverse – on a vocal level at least. The guitars are intelligently structured and awe-inspiring like the metal version of the pyramids. After a massacre of aggressive solo work, the track sadly comes to a slow, melodic end.

”In Vain” is definitely not your typical Gothic metal release – In fact, it’s probably better than your typical Gothic metal release. The music shows strong elements of death, black and speed metal while the vocals portray a more Arch Enemy meets Astarte meets Evanescence sound. Each part of the EP has had a lot of thought and work put into it. Its hard to believe that “In Vain” is their only release!

4.7/5

Nico Davidson

Incassum will be touring with Spires later this month. See below for dates:

24/11 NEWCASTLE TRILLIANS – FREE ENTRY!
25/11 BRADFORD RIOS
26/11 HULL RINGSIDE
27/11 GRIMSBY YARDBIRDS
30/11 KINGSTON THE PEEL
01/12 READING FACE BAR
02/12 DERBY OLD BELL
04/12 MANCHESTER ALTER EGO + ‘SWORN TO OATH’

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