Sincarnate - "In Nomine Homini" (Hatework, 2017)

Band: Sincarnate
Title: In Nomine Homini
Genre: Melodic Death/Doom metal with Black Metal elements
Year: 1st April 2017
Time: 61 min
Rating: 83/100












Can you believe that I downloaded the promo kit of "In Nomine Homini" even 8 months ago after a suggestion of the Romanian label Loud Rage Music but that, despite this, I started to listen to it only few weeks ago? A lot of time to discover a fantastic second album by Sincarnate, a band formed in 2006 in Bucharest, Romania. These 5 guys have recently supported, along with Azarath and Melechesh, nothing else than Immolation for their "Atonement Tour Europe 2017" during their dates in the Eastern Europe from 18th to 29th September 2017 so to touch countries like Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania.


61 minutes! This is the not easy lenght of "In Nomine Homini" while 11 are the songs that form it but you have to think that two of them ("De Luctum Perpetuum" and the curiously titled "Atonement") are bonus tracks. Throughout this album released by the Romanian black metal label Hatework, there is a very interesting and creative music dubbed by me like a melodic death/doom metal with some black metal elements. But this simple definition doesn't say many things about, for example, the very good interaction between the two axeplayers Christian and Giani that support each other with riffs on riffs but, strangely, (almost) without playing any solos. Or about the impressive rhythmic section composed by the bassplayer Zală and Andrei, a drummer able without problems to range from very slow tempos to ultra-fast blast-beats also to vary a same musical solution, showing in all these ways notable technical skills.

The atmosphere recreated by Sincarnate is incredibly particular because it is, at the same time, desperate, majestic and mystic. I said "desperate" because for a strongly dramatic sense of the melody and for the vocal performances of the singer Marius, amazing with his agonizing growls (the main vocals) alternated with some very intense screams, and let's me say that those growls are one of the better ones listened by me during these last times! Instead, I said "majestic" mainly for the elegant but aggressive black metal outbursts. And I said "mystic" for a very special feature of the band: the "chapel" choirs, provided by the guest vocalist Irinel Cirlan, that support the vocals of Marius since the opening track "Attende Domine"...and don't forget the many songtitles with a mystic/occult aura like "Agrat bat mahlat" and "She-of-the-Left-Hand (Sophia Pistis)".

Among my standout tracks, I have to mention, at least, "The Grand Inquisitor", absolutely fantastic and intense due to its first part all dominated by decadent doom tempos and its second one more focused on blast-beat attacks with the screams, in the background, of the dead men condemned by the same "grand inquisitor". Or the following number "Lamentatio Christi", a perfect example of how the two guitarists can to create together a web of melodic plots. Or the final song (without considering the bonus tracks) "Liwyatan", where there is the only guitar solo, simple but suggestive, of the entire album. In other words, the second side (starting from "The Grand Inquisitor") of "In Nomine Homini" is the better than the first one.

Said all this, "In Nomine Homini" is an amazing expression of a band able to be elegant and melodic but ballsy and aggressive at the same time along with a lot of creativity and atmosphere. But I am only asking to myself the reasons to put in the list the two bonus tracks considering that they don't add something new to the album and, in addition, "Liwyatan", also with its sad keyboards during its intro and outro, is perfect to end this "In Nomine Homini". Anyway, another good thing is that Sincarnate have recently shot a videoclip for one of the better songs of "In Nomine Homini", that 's "The Grand Inquisitor", Watch it below! In brief, this is an album totally recommended!

Tracklist:

1 - Attende Domine
2 - Agrat bat mahlat
3 - Curriculum Mortis
4 - She-of-the-Left-Hand (Sophia Pistis)
5 - In Nomine Homini
6 - The Grand Inquisitor
7 - Lamentatio Christi
8 - Dies Illa
9 - Liwyatan
10 - De Luctum Perpetuum
11 - Atonement

Line-up:

Marius - vocals
Cristian - guitars
Giani - guitars
Zală - bass
Andrei . drums

FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sincarnate/112766832082105
BandCamp: http://sincarnate.bandcamp.com/
Hatework: https://www.facebook.com/FacelessArild/
Loud Rage Music: http://www.loudragemusic.com/