{"id":229721,"date":"2026-01-26T17:31:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T16:31:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/?p=229721"},"modified":"2026-01-26T19:35:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T18:35:53","slug":"invictus-nocturnal-visions-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.angrymetalguy.com\/invictus-nocturnal-visions-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Invictus – Nocturnal Visions Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Five years ago, I highlighted Invictus<\/strong>’ 2020 debut LP Catacombs of Fear<\/em> as part of our year-end death metal roundup feature<\/a>. Since then, the Japanese death metal trio toiled under the ground with a brutal live schedule and steadily wrote what might very well be my most highly anticipated follow-up in the death metal realm. Hot on the heels of killer releases from personal favorites like Depravity<\/strong><\/a>, and jumping just ahead of another highly anticipated salvo from Eximperitus<\/strong><\/a>, Invictus<\/strong>’ upcoming Nocturnal Visions<\/em> has big shoes to fill and stiff competition to combat. But if anybody has the chops and the balls to do it, it’s Invictus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Having only one previous album and a few scattered demos\/singles to their name, Invictus<\/strong> haven’t messed with their formula very much since their inception. Boasting a killer combo of Demolition Hammer<\/strong> nastiness and Consuming Impulse<\/em>-era Pestilence<\/strong><\/a> attack, Nocturnal Visions<\/em> pushes 35 minutes of pure adrenaline. Nary a second faffs about with filler, fluffy atmosphere, or anything else that could be construed as something other than devout reverence to The Almighty Riff\u2122. With each twist of phrase or shift in movement, guitarist\/vocalist Takehitopsy Seki tears through an unrelenting assault of intense grooves, speedy thrashes, and writhing rhythms that don’t just open up pits, but rather rip open dimensional rifts straight to hell itself (“Altar of Devoted Slaughter,” “Wandering Ashdream”). Instead of relying on blasts for intensity, Haruki Tokutake’s percussive strategy focuses on machine-gun double-bass runs and thrashy skanks so brutally exacted upon my spine that I needed a back brace and headgear just to approach the second half\u2014accommodations which in no way deterred my summary bodily encrushment (“Persecution Madness”). Bassist Toshihiro Seki clunks and clangs beneath the surface with a violent, hammering tone that, while not always as audible as it ought to be, nonetheless deepens the tonal quality of the record’s warm, slightly swampy production (“Nocturnal Visions”). Unlike many of those acts from whom Invictus<\/strong> draws inspiration, Seki’s vocals operate squarely inside the Incantation<\/strong><\/a>\/Tomb Mold<\/strong><\/a> school of subterranean monstrosity. Counterintuitively, this sets the trio apart from their influences by hiding in plain sight with their contemporaries.<\/p>\n