Artist: Venomous Invokation
Country: USA
Label: Crow’s Nest Records / Funeral Moon Records
Formats: Demo Tape / Demo CD
Year: 2026
Although Venomous Invokation already released three short players (and a compilation CD with those earlier tracks), this Knoxville, Tennessee (USA) based Death Metal band remained under my radar until recently. The thing that caught my eye was the great looking logo in classic and stylish black and red colour schemes. To me that is pure poetry and impossible to resist. This logo made its entrance on the ‘Rehearsal Invokation’ tape, released late last year (unfortunately limited to just five copies), replacing the rather amateurish first design. But it is not just the logo that has changed; the band itself has also made clear strides forward musically, and ‘Diabolic Death Metal’ is by far the best the band has released to date.
To put it simply, this is Death Metal just the way I like it. Far removed from snoozy grooves or lazy mid-tempo tracks, this is Evil Death Metal in the vein of early Sadistic Intent, Immolation and Vital Remains. The latter, in particular, rears its head very regularly in the form of atmospheric use of keyboards and almost Heavy Heavy Metal-esque solos. Of course, Morbid Angel is never far away either and is a clear source of inspiration for the band; it is striking that both the classic early Morbid Angel recordings and the later Steve Tucker-fronted material must have influenced Venomous Invokation.
Although the band’s direct influences appear to stem from the first wave of Death Metal, Venomous Invokation doesn’t come across as a band that’s necessarily trying hard to sound old-school and authentic. Quite the opposite, in fact: ‘Diabolic Death Metal’ sounds quite modern, with a deep and heavy production in which the gruelling vocals in particular take centre stage. These seem to originate more from the ‘Cavernous Death Metal’ (or caverncore, if you will) trend of a few years ago, but provide a good counterpoint to the more complex guitar work and the Heavy Metal leads, so you might say it fuses two worlds together.
Fans of bands such as Grave Miasma, Dead Congregation, Funebrarum, Ignivomous, Impetuous Ritual, early Father Befouled, Burial Invocation and the many Chilean Death Metal acts with that characteristic dark and malevolent edge would do well to keep an eye on this American trio.
