The name INCANTATION speaks for itself. Over twelve years of hard work, troubles, line-up changes, devastating, blasphemous recorded material, busy touring schedules. Over the years, INCANTATION have stayed true to their fans who brought them out of the underground, true to what they believe in, true to themselves. Christ-crushing death metal all the way. With the latest offering just out, called "Blasphemy"... leaves nothing more to add. Here is an interview with guitarist and co-founder of INCANTATION - John McEntee:

1. It's been about 12 years since you recorded your first rehearsal demo tape. Then a couple of EP's and in 1992 the world got to hear your LP "Onward To Golgotha". I can clearly remember how I felt listening for the first time to your debut. How do you recall those first months in the music scene, ripping christian souls around the globe with a release that marked death metal with a new brand of brutality?
     It was unexpected when we got such a killer response, because when I started the band with Paul Ledney, we wanted to make a band that people would hate because it was to sick brutal and blasphemous. We refused to follow the trend of the time. But it is always a complement when people like the music we do because we write the same kind of music we like and only think about pleasing ourselves with what we write. Each Release that we ever did we just wanted to push the limits of Death Metal and we are very fortunate that so many warriors of Death Metal believe in what we do and feel, that same torment and aggression that we feel.

2. Incantation has been through many line-up changes since those days. What were/are the main reasons for the members to quit playing/being thrown out of the band ? Was/is it the pressure that comes with the fact of becoming popular, were/are those musical differences, interpersonal conflicts - what was it really ?
     All of the above plus more, the bottom line is that there are so many reasons why there are many line up changes. And for the most part they have good and legit reasons why they are not apart of the band anymore. For me it's been great to get the great opportunity to jam with so many killer musicians over the years.

3. What is the actual line-up as for today ?
     John - me, Joe Lombard - Bass, Kyle Severn, and we are looking for a permanent Vocalist at the moment.

4. The years you released your debut, the death metal scene was getting sort of efd up with hundreds and hundreds of bands, which led to difficult times for that genre of music. How did you manage to stay alive and well through the rough times ?
     We are just true fans of Death Metal, and we are true to ourselves so we just did things our way and said fuck all the trends. Incantation is about being sincere to our blasphemous and aggressive heavy roots. Incantation will always be 100% death metal and won't cave in to any feeble trends.

5. Your twisted riffs, dark sound, antichristian lyrics attack probably make your releases far from being top money makers. Still you keep doing what you do best - giving your fans, the kind of music they got to love you for. Have you ever hesitated between going a bit more commercial and make a living out of Incantation's music? What do you guys do for a living these days ?
     Thanks for the complement, Yes it is true we could make more money if we sold out, but I wouldn't be happy trying to conform to the trends. The thing I like about playing live is that it is a raw, pure and aggressive. I don't like to play music if I feel like I'm holding back. I want to go all out and over the top. Incantation will never hold back just to be trend puppets of the music industry. Yes, we all have day jobs I work with computers and builds websites, Kyle works in construction and Joe is an engineer.

6. I can't resist not ask You a question about your producer Bill Korecky, whom you worked on your worked in the past. Is he in charge this time as well ? And… has he got any Polish blood as his last name sounds very much like it ?
     Yes Bill did Record and Co produce "Blasphemy". He is great to work with he really has a lot of honor in his work and really pushes us to our limits when recording! I have no idea if he is Polish, but I will ask him, next time I see him. Maybe our CD's sound so brutal because Bill has Brutal Polish power in his blood!

7. As you're just releasing your new production, when is it going to available, what is it going to be like comparing with your previous releases ?
     It's totally aggressive, heavy, and blasphemous, it has a killer dry production. It has aspects of Onward to Golgotha, Mortal Throne of Nazarene and Diabolical Conquest! It has a more raw production then Infernal Storm. We are proud to say that it is available in Europe through Candlelight Records.

8. Which previous Incantation's album do you like most these days? Which did you have most fun recording?
     I really like all of our releases, they are a great part of my history and I have the highest respect for each recording session along with everyone involved with them! It's hard to say which album was the most fun to record because they all have high and low points. But the Blasphemy album session was killer because its always awesome to work with Kyle again after a short leave of absent for a few years ago.

9. Are there any plans on touring Europe soon and if so, is there Poland on your list ?
     We are for sure going to do some European touring this year. We are working on getting on the Thrash em All Festivals this year and things are looking good at the moment. Touring Europe is a major priority for us on this album!

10. Do you ever listen to your own recordings ? What music do you listen to, what bands could you mention ?
     I really don't listen to my Recordings. I play Incantation songs enough at rehearsal I don't need to listen to it more then that. I listen to mostly Metal Music from classic of the early 80's like Iron Median and Dio to late 80's and 90's death Metal bands like Autopsy, Grave, Krisiun, Ibex Throne, and old Death.

11. Can you remember the first metal recordings ever you owned ?
     the first Metal recording I ever owned was Kiss Alive. I was blown away with the power of this recording. After that I was a metal head forever.

12. Did Incantation ever got to play with Death ? How do you guys on the top of the metal scene coped with such a loss ?
     Yes, we played with Death 2 times; we were casual friends with Chuck and really good friends with his last drummer Richard Christy. It sucks what happen to Chuck, he was a really cool guy and accomplished a great deal in his short life. There is not much we can do now that he is gone, but I think his contribution to the Death Metal scene should always be honored, because with out Death, 90% of all the death metal bands would not have existed.

13. You music goes with your blasphemous lyrics so much together, that one of it has no right to exist without the other. Tell us what do you thing about bands that use the antigod point of view through their lyrics and/or image giving out music that could easily compete with the top pop albums out, clearly to sell their albums to the masses?
     I'm not a fan of trends! I think Blasphemous music must be dark aggressive and heavy as fuck, It's stupid to have music that is wimpy with aggressive and Blasphemous Lyrics. But there is a lot that I hate about the music scene today, which is just another thing that sucks about it.

14. Try to remember your worst live performance for any reason - what would that be, why ?
     Back on the AngelCorpse and Krisiun tour I gave a great chance to an incompetent Drummer. At first he fooled me by really trying hard to do a good job and improving on his inferior playing at rehearsal. Being the cool dude I am, I told him he can do the tour, and he gave us his word that he would work his hardest to be the best drummer possible. We anyway the bottom line is that when we got on tour he got worse every night, I couldn't understand why, but it really pissed me off because the supporters of Incantation deserve someone that is willing to work hard to give them the best show possible, but this drummer only wanted to be a rock star without having any talent. Now he lies to all the bar rats in town about his life as a rock stare. It's really sad that I was stupid to give such a jackass an opportunity like that. But I have learned my lesson and will never repeat that mistake again.

15. On the other hand, where did you guys have most fun playing ?
     Any time we are kicking ass I'm having a good time! It's Impossible to say what show was my favorite or most fun. As long as everyone in the band is doing there best live I'm happy as fuck!

16. Name a place on the earth you wish to perform ?
     Everywhere that there are sick warriors of Blasphemy! Poland is on the list for sure!

17. Are you guys into politics at all ? Not that I have anything against it, its jut what the media can do... like porn for the poor. Did you have much fun listening to Bill C. talking of the ways he had fun with Monica L. ?
     We are not a political band! We know that's a lot of Bull crap. I believe in the power of metal and the freedom of Blasphemy! I think Bill Clinton was a jack ass, doing stupid stuff, not someone that should be a leader of our country.

18. Do you have any long term goals set for Incantation the world should be prepared for ?
     We are gearing up for world domination! We are warriors of true death metal! We play music we believe in and don't care about trends. We feel that "Blasphemy" is a great death Metal release and not for wimps! Incantation is proud to be a death metal band and we will away be a death metal band!

19. Thank you very much for the interview. Wishing you all the best, hoping you stay as dark, brutal and blasphemous as ever, I'd like to ask you a couple of words for all your fans out there just to finish of this interview.
     Hail and thanks for the support! Its support from People like you that keep this music alive! We want to thank all the polish Death metal warriors for the long time support! We will do all we can to play Poland within the year! Incantation hails all the death metal warriors from Poland! Thanks 666!

     The new Incantation album "Blasphemy" will be released in Europe on June 17th on Candlelight Records, in North America on June 18th on Necropolis Records, and on July 10th in Brazil on Moria Records.

Incantation
P.O. Box 5321
Johnstown, PA 15904
USA

email:
http://www.incantation.com