''Profane Nexus'' is the tenth full-length studio album by the American

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

band

Incantation An incantation, a spell, a charm, an enchantment or a bewitchery, is a magical formula intended to trigger a magical effect on a person or objects. The formula can be spoken, sung or chanted. An incantation can also be performed during ceremo ...

. The album was released on August 11, 2017 through Relapse Records, and is their first release on the label since their 2000 album ''

The Infernal Storm ''The Infernal Storm'' is the fourth studio album by the American death metal band Incantation. It was released in 2000 on Relapse Records (US), Moria Records Brazil and as PLP on Morbid Records. Track listing Lineup *Mike Saez – guitar ...

''. The album was recorded in the band's own Incantation Studios in

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and was mixed and mastered by

Dan Swanö Dan-Erland Swanö (born 10 March 1973), also known as Dan "The Man" Swanö, is a Swedish musician and record producer who is currently the vocalist, guitarist, ex-bassist and ex-drummer for the band Nightingale, lately vocalist, keyboardist and ...

. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics and reached no. 18 on the

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Chart and no. 32 on the Independent Chart.

Artwork

The cover artwork was created by Israeli artist

Eliran Kantor Eliran Kantor (born 13 September 1984) is a Berlin-based artist and illustrator known mostly for creating album covers for metal bands such as Testament, Soulfly, Helloween and My Dying Bride. He created the artwork used on various releases issu ...

based on the album's lyrical themes as explained to him by Chuck Sherwood. In an interview with ''And Justice For Art'', Kantor stated that Sherwood "showed me the lyrics he wrote and went into details about the themes behind each song. There was one song dealing with the natural habits of locusts and one about a deity who's wearing flayed human skin," He also added that "I imagined it having a monster-like body made of tar, with the locusts draping it with skin parts they pick from a pit full of human sacrifice." He also explained that "'The Night Drinker' was about the

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deity

Xipe Totec In Aztec mythology and religion, Xipe Totec (; nci-IPA, Xīpe Totēc, ˈʃiːpe ˈtoteːk(ʷ)) or Xipetotec ("Our Lord the Flayed One") was a life-death-rebirth deity, god of agriculture, vegetation, the east, spring, goldsmiths, silversmiths, ...

. Chuck explained a specific ritual involving Xipe Totec as “People would be flayed (skinned alive) so that a medium for this god could wear the skin for 20 days, to be the living interpretation of it”. I imagined the deity having an arachnoid body made of tar, with the locusts draping it with skin bits they pick from a pit full of human sacrifice."

Critical reception

The album received generally positive reviews from music critics. Critics noted that ''Profane Nexus'' is a logical continuation of the typical death-doom style of metal that Incantation have performed on previous albums, but

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described the album as "Incantation’s best material in years", while both

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and Decibel praised the "diversity" of songs on the album as "refreshing." Critics also noted the ominous, disturbing atmosphere and the strong songwriting. Metal Injection wrote that "It’s genuinely thrilling to hear a band sound so good so many years into their career." José Carlos Santos of ''

Terrorizer Terrorizer is an American grindcore band formed in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. After disbanding, its members gained recognition by playing in influential extreme metal bands, such as Morbid Angel ( David Vincent, Pete Sandoval), Napalm D ...

'' gave the album a high rating, and wrote, "Tenth full-length 'Profane Nexus' is vintage Incantation ..it maintains that unbeatable dirty subterranean feeling of the band's early classics with an extra bit of bite soundwise ..to show that the band isn't frozen in time either."

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were more critical of the album, writing that "Everything is just too tidy and measured, right down to the typewriter drums and quintessentially ''Relapse'' guitar-tone."

Track listing

Personnel

Incantation

* John McEntee – vocals, rhythm guitar * Sonny Lombadozzi – lead guitar * Chuck Sherwood – bass, lyrics * Kyle Severn – drums

Additional personnel

– artwork * Jacob Speis – layout * Scott Kinkade – photography *

– mixing, mastering * Matthew "Zilla" Draudt – engineering * Dennis Clintworks – assistant engineer

Charts

References

{{Authority control Incantation (band) albums 2017 albums Relapse Records albums Albums with cover art by Eliran Kantor