by Greg Prato

The sound of being swallowed whole into the bowels of hell -- a fitting description of the grotesque sounds that New Jersey lads Incantation captured on their debut album, 1992's Onward to Golgotha. Death metal at its most extreme, Onward to Golgotha does not let up one iota in its intensity -- evidenced in the vocal growls, manic riffing, and wicked drumbeats -- from beginning to end. Take a gander at some of the song titles: "Deliverance of Horrific Prophecies," "Eternal Torture," "Rotting Spiritual Embodiment," "Christening the Afterbirth." Any question of how brutal it all must sound? Didn't think so.