Inculter Fatal Vision Picture Disc Edition

Staying true to their sound whilst pushing their own limits, here on Fatal Visions do Inculter exhibit more finesse and flair, more magic and mastery. If Persisting Devolution leaned more on the raw side - understandably so, given the band's youth at the time - then the self-produced Fatal Visions sees the now-quartet getting to the heart of their sound and, with mastering by Enslaved's Herbrand Larsen, leaving a more powerful and timeless document for the ages. That expansion to a four-piece is immediately felt; the attack is tighter and more urgent, the dual-riff interplay dazzling with darkness and ever-twisting memorability. Indeed, these Fatal Visions cut quickly and sharply, their locked-in slash 'n' surge sounding almost criminally accomplished. No more red-eyed and bleeding-raw belligerence here: rather, a spiked landscape of classic heavy metal majesty rendered wild and wondrous. If anything, one could say Inculter are taking cues from cult-institution forebears Aura Noir but accelerating up the evolutionary chain far quicker...or simply that Fatal Visions is THE Now Sound of Inculter.

Recommended if you like: Aura Noir, Nifelheim, Obliteration, Nekromantheon ETC.