Diaboli - Invocation

Finland’s metal output has been pretty amazing of late with everything from doom to death to black; the country’s next largest export might well be metal. On the black side we have Diabolic, which has been semi-prolific since its inception in 1995. After a few minor personal setbacks, main-man Pete Ilvespakka is back at the helm and offering up Invocation for the masses to consume.

Along similar lines of the raw, yet somewhat slower black metal movement, Invocation is a black metal thrash fest that sounds like the low ripple of Belial’s scepter stirring the Styx in quick, precise circles. While not raw in terms of under-the-bar production, yet not perfectly-clear a la Andy Sneap, Invocation satiates the desire for something blackened to end your evening and settles nicely right in the middle. For the ardent black metal fan who realizes that even Satan himself is getting older and can’t keep up to a frenzied pace throughout an album, Diaboli can fit the bill.

From its very beginning Diaboli has been a band wrought with controversy, yet it has never wavered in its dedication to the true art of black metal in its most primitive form. Handling the entire project himself, Ilvespakka does a good job fashioning some very foreboding musical landscapes without the typical keyboard passages invoking ethereal auras.  Stripped down and simple, Invocation is an unpolished piece of art that causes some strong moments of introspection. For a one-man unit, he creates some strong songs that, while somewhat similar in style throughout, don’t cause the mind to drift or relegate themselves to background music.

“Dawn of End” is one of the tracks that sticks in the head with its thrash riff that Kreator or Destruction might have found useful. While some tracks utilize the “slow-burn” process of musical venture, other tracks incorporate the fast, black rawness we’re fond of and make up a savory potpourri of good dark metal easily enjoyable and interesting. There is nothing exactly new being done here, but sometimes the same-old can be just as good as the next guy’s band.

While not exactly a household name, Diaboli has a sound well worth looking into should your black metal needs be requiring a quick-fix.

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*Comments:

April 21, 2010

Reviewer: Chris

Release Date: April 8, 2010
Label: Northern Heritage Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  Baptized in Blood
2.  Collective Hallucination
3.  Utopian Vision
4.  Return to Reality
5.  Dawn of End
6.  I Spit to Your Cross
7.  A World to Burn
8.  Die So You Can Live
9.  The Fire Eternal
10.  Invocation

Total playing time:  41:16