Lista de los grupos Black Metal Inquisition (USA) Ominous Doctrines of the Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm

After an extremely long wait and numerous delays, Inquisition finally released the follow up to 2007's Nefarious Dismal Orations, Ominous Doctrines of the Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm, and to my delight they do not disappoint with this record with their music and the bombastic album and song titles.

From the opening track, Dagon's trademark croaking style of vocals is instantly recognisable, blending into their unique brand of black metal (mostly because of Dagon's different approach to black metal vocals). If you have followed Inquisition throughout the span of their career, Ominous Doctrines is a continuation of the foundation that they have set up in previous albums, not dissimilar from Nefarious Dismal Orations and before. However, compared to previous works of Inquisition, it feels like the emphasis of the guitars have increased, through the increased numbers of more complex guitar solos on the songs and also the increased range of usage of the guitars, such as the acoustic folkish guitar at the background on the first song Astral Path to Supreme Majesties. While it may be nothing new to Inquisition's music, the emphasis placed on it seems to have increased.

Inquisition slows down slightly with the track Desolate Funeral Chant, but this does not mean that the song is not as good as other songs. Dagon's vocals on this track are so tortured that listening to it causes the skin to crawl, especially on the parts of the songs where he chants out or drawls out the lyrics, giving off a suffocating and ominous atmosphere, befitting of the title of the track. While the song is more than 7 minutes long with little lyrics, it is well thought out and certainly proves the songwriting abilities of the band.

The spoken vocal parts present on songs such as the intro of Command of the Dark Crown and on Crepuscular Battle Hymn adds to the overall atmosphere of the songs, with the spoken parts for the latter song crackling as if played through a radio.

There are, however, times when it feels as if Inquisition has run out of ideas, with riffs that are reminiscent of songs that they have already written before, such as on Crepuscular Battle Hymn, where the main riff sounds almost similar to that of Through the Infinite Sphere Our Majesty Shall Rise from Nefarious Dismal Orations.

The production on this album shows a marked difference from the previous albums, with the sound of all instruments more crisp and Dagon's vocals given a higher mix compared to previous works. Of course, the entire experience is completed by the magickal artwork that is included on the album.

Inquisition is one of those bands that are a hit-or-miss with fans of black metal, mainly because of the mismatch between Dagon's croaked vocals and the catchy black metal riffing and music unleashed by both himself and Incubus. But listening to this album and their entire catalogue, it makes me regret not catching them last year at Thailand's God Beheading Live Ritual, perhaps the only chance that they will ever come to this region.