Incarceration: Sacrifice (2013)

I don't really think of death metal when I think of the name "Incarceration".  I have a fair amount of experience with incarceration, being a criminal defense attorney, and if I had to pick a style of metal that would fit best with the term, it would be thrash metal.  But we are not here to trifle over names.  Just know that Incarceration is a death metal band from Brazil that relocated to Germany.

The music here is a very impressive mix of the early Swedish death metal of Nihilist, Carnage, and Dismember with the more typical South American influences of Morbid Visions-era Sepultura and Sarcofago.  It is incredibly fast and intense with breakneck riffs, pounding drums, and hoarse, shouted vocals.  The guitars have a little bit of that buzzsaw quality that defined the early Swedish death metal scene, but the attitude and swagger definitely comes from mid-80's Brazilian metal.  The three songs presented here are take-no-prisoners barn burners.

The production is a little strange.  It has a kind of bizarre echoing quality, like it was recorded in a cave, or a jail cell.  Maybe that's where the name comes from.  It was a little distracting at first, but over time it is not as noticeable and just adds to the dark atmosphere of the EP.  The drums are a bit high in the mix and not really doing enough interesting stuff to be that noticeable.

I am definitely impressed by this band.  I will be looking forward to more material by them in the future.

Incarceration Bandcamp.