Review: INQUISITION – Veneration of Medieval Mysticism and Cosmological Violence

Year: 2024
Label: Agonia Records
Rating: 9 / 10

The beginning of 2024 continues to delight with powerful releases. From INQUISITION, of course, I was waiting for a record that would qualify for album of the year, and the band did not let me down again. For people who have been playing more or less the same music for more than a quarter of a century, they sound surprisingly fresh every time. If "Bloodshed ... “was the epitome of underground violence, and ”Black Mass...“ returned to the brooding epicness of the debut, then "Veneration..." is perhaps the most diverse piece of INQUISITION of all time.

The first track has no really outstanding moments, except for a simple additional string part. But already on the next track, the listener is absorbed by the deep, resonant atmosphere of the main riff. And this is just the warm–up - soon it is joined by a wonderful solo, solemn keyboards and even clean vocals. Dagon has never used his "inborn" voice as often as on this album – as many as two and a half times!

While very dynamic songs (they regularly jump from rage to prudence, and back) unfold in our ears, it becomes obvious that, despite the rather rich use of keyboards in places – for example, in “Memories Within an Empty Castle in Ruins” - INQUISITION remain worshippers of the unholy instrumental Trinity of all metal, i.e. guitar, bass and drums. All the main arrangements and solos still use the guitar, but the fact is that now it's not the same guitar that plays the riffs. These are completely different types of guitars, with a different tune. Their sound is so different that they are perceived as a kind of exotic, like a banjo or a jew's harp. The contrast effect is sometimes stunning. As they say, everything ingenious is simple.

The latter concerns the whole structure of the songs. They are the simplest - as an example, I name "Light Of My Dark Essence", which is almost no different from any ancient rock hit about love - but the idea and execution of each is at an unattainable level. Each one stands out in some way, there are no fillers or just ordinary tracks on the album. Just listen to the brilliant title track: the banal repetition of lines, but how wonderfully and effectively it works!

The same people were responsible for the cover and sound as last time. You have to get used to the sound a little bit, it is, so to speak, dry-dirty, and very warm, but it does not resemble the buzzing “Obscure Verses for the Multiverse” or any other previous album. The lyrics are completely philosophical, contemplative and spiritual. Obviously, after the universal apocalypse on “Black Mass...”, Dagon decided to take some time away from the bloodshed of galactic proportions and focus on thorough ruminations about cosmic occult processes. We all need to rest sometime.

Well, as I said at the beginning, we have one of the best releases of the year. Let's add that the album is 20 minutes shorter than its predecessor, but after listening to it, it feels like it was a lifetime. Despite the very simple structures of the compositions, it is incredibly saturated. Must buy, definitely. Blood from the stars fills my chalice… Hail the Cult!