Inquisition

Forming in Cali, Colombia in 1988 as extreme thrash band Guillotina, INQUISITION has since come to be associated with the American scene. Spearheaded by the dark mastermind known as Dagon, Inquisition is known throughout the world as a truly cult black metal band.

Before changing their name to Inquisition in 1989, Guillotina's Sodom-influenced brand of thrash was already beginning to make waves in the South American underground. Within a year of forming, for example, they had opened for legendary fellow Colombians Reencarnación.

Title track from 1990's Anxious Death

In 1990, they put out the Anxious Death EP, which showcased their early thrash sound. The influence of the German scene can clearly be heard on this release. Inquisition would labor a few more years in the underground in this vein, putting out a 1993 demo, Forever Under.

The years 1994-1996 were a time of immense transition for Inquisition. This was the time where Dagon admits he began to grow weary of the thrash scene, and he answered the call of black metal. He has said in interviews that the sound of extreme metal was what appealed to him, and that he sought more and more extremity in terms of types of sounds. This lead him to eventually arrive at the conclusion that black metal was where his creative energy belonged. By 1996, Inquisition's new black metal sound could be heard on the Incense of Rest EP and on a split with Brazilian band Profane Creation. This was also the time when Inquisition chose to re-locate to the Pacific Northwest of the United States (the land of Dagon's birth). Dagon also met and recruited musician Incubus, who has been his co-collaborator in Inquisition as well as the drummer for that band ever since.

Newly invigorated with fresh blood, Inquisition took the world by storm with their first full-length studio album, 1998's Into the Infernal Regions of the Ancient Cult. This album--along with Inquisition's sound in general--is the very definition of cult. Relying on brutally heavy riffing that clearly draws on Dagon's thrash background, demonic growled vocals that call to mind Attila's best performances with Mayhem, and occultic/Satanic lyrical themes that feel more authentic than most almost any other black metal band out there, Inquisition stands alone in a genre that spawns clones and imitators galore. Inquisition has continued to consistently release brilliant, brutal black metal in the ensuing years. You know what to expect with an Inquisition album--and you get it every time!

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"Empire of Luciferian Race" is off of Inquisition's debut album

From their 2002 album Invoking the Majestic Throne of Satan, this is "Enshrouded by the Cryptic Temples of the Cult"

"Master of the Cosmological Black Cauldron" is a more recent offering (from 2013's Obscure Verse for the Multiverse)

Despite being one of underground black metal's most consistent bands, recent years have brought problems to Inquisition. It came to light in 2018 that Dagon faced charges of possession of child pornography back in 2009. Although Dagon did plead down to lesser charges, Inquisition has faced enormous backlash since then. Record labels, fans, and concert promoters have turned their back on this band. Will there be redemption? Or is Inquisition's time in the sun over? Only time will tell.

Select Discography:

Anxious Death EP (1990)

Forever Under (demo) (1993)

Incense of Rest EP (1996)

Into the Infernal Regions of the Ancient Cult (full-length) (1998)

Invoking the Majestic Throne of Satan (full-length) (2002)

Magnificent Glorification of Lucifer (full-length) (2004)

Nefarious Dismal Orations (full-length) (2007)

Ominous Doctrines of the Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm (full-length) (2010)

Obscure Verses for the Multiverse (full-length) (2013)

Bloodshed Across the Empyrean Altar Beyond the Celestial Zenith (full-length) (2016)

Next time: DEVISER

1980s Black Metal: The Latin American Scene

Modern black metal would be virtually impossible to imagine without Sarcofago, there is no denying that.  And Vulcano was important as well.  But South America (especially Brazil) gave rise to so many crucial bands that helped shape international black metal that it only makes sense to mention them.  That being said, few of them were as overwhelmingly influential as Sarcofago or Vulcano (or, in a peripheral sense, Sepultura).  The one exception to this might be the Brazilian band HOLOCAUSTO.

 Brazil's Holocausto

 

Formed in 1985, Holocausto incorporated violent imagery and war themes into their lyrical content.  Their legendary debut album, 1987's Campo de Exterminío, was perceived as praising Nazis and fascism when it was really a critique of those ideologies.  After that album, they became less black metal and veered more toward thrash metal with industrial influences.  They broke up in 1994 only to reform a decade later.

"Forças Terroristas", off of 1987's Campo de Exterminío

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Also hailing from Brazil were the extreme black/thrash bands EXTERMINATOR and ESCOLA ALEMÃ.  Not as prolific as Sarcofago or Vulcano, these bands became known for one or two quality releases and demos in the mid- to late-80s.  Both bands used war and Nazi imagery for the sake of being extreme, and like Holocausto were mistaken for Nazis themselves.

In its entirety, here is Exterminator's only album, Total Extermination

"Germany School" is from Escola Alemã's 1989 demo, Vergeltungswaffe

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Out of Colombia, the band PARABELLUM is one of the oldest South American extreme metal bands.  Formed in 1981 and hailing from Medellin, their brand of black/thrash was a raw and primitive style that sounded very much like other extreme 1980s old-school bands.  Put next to Sarcofago, Parabellum definitely holds their own.  They never released any full-length albums, just EPs and demos.

"Engendro 666", off of the 1987 EP Sacrilegio

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Uruguay as a nation is not known for their metal scene, but the Uruguayan extreme metal band GRAF SPEE sure made an impact on the death/black scene in the 1980s.  They formed in 1985, but didn't really release any original material until the 1988 album Reincarnation.  They didn't release much after that album, and I'm not sure of their status today.

Graf Spee's "Freedom"

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Another Colombian band, REENCARNACIÓN is a fairly prolific black/thrash band that is still around to this day.  Like Parabellum, they hail from Medellin.  A style that is much more black metal than some of the other bands listed in this entry, Reencarnación made a pretty big impact with their 1988 self-titled album.

Their self-titled song from their self-titled album

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There are numerous other important South and Latin American black metal bands from the first wave worth mentioning that managed to combine some element of evil, rawness, speed, and atmosphere to fit into this discussion of old-school black metal.  Peru's SATANAS and HADEZ, Mexico's TOXODETH, Chile's PENTAGRAM, and Colombia's BLASFEMIA are all examples that bear mentioning.

From Hadez's 1986 demo Guerreros de la Muerte

From Satanas' 1989 demo Blasfemia

Off of Toxodeth's 1988 demo, Phantasms

The title song from Blasfemia's 1988 EP Guerra Total

Pentagram's 1987 single "Demoniac Possession"

As you can see, the Latin American scene produced some pretty interesting and influential bands in the 1980s.  Later bands came along who have been extremely important (Inquisition, Mystifier, etc.) but they will get their own entries when the time is right.

Select Discography of 1980s Latin American Black Metal Scene:

(in alphabetical order by artist)

Blasfemia, Guerra Total EP (1988)

Escola Alemã, Black War (demo) (1987)

Escola Alemã, Transport of Death (demo) (1988)

Escola Alemã, Vergeltungswaffe (demo) (1989)

Exterminator, Total Extermination (full-length album)  (1987)

Graf Spee, El lugar de los Asuras (demo) (1985)

Graf Spee, Demo '86 (demo) (1986)

Graf Spee, Reincarnation (full-length album) (1990)

Hadez, Guerreros de la Muerte (demo) (1988)

Hadez, Altar of Sacrifice (demo) (1989)

Hadez, Hadez Attack (demo) (1990)

Holocausto, Masacre (demo) (1985)

Holocausto, Campo de Extermínio (full-length album) (1987)

Parabellum, Rehearsal (demo) (1984)

Parabellum, Sacrilegio EP (1987)

Parabellum, Mutacion por radiacion EP (1988)

Pentagram, Rehearsal (demo) (1986)

Pentagram, Demo #1 (demo) (1987)

Pentagram, Demo #2 (demo) (1987)

Reencarnación, Dioses muertos (demo) (1987)

Reencarnación, Reencarnación (full-length album) (1988)

Satanas, Blasfemia (demo) (1989)

Toxodeth, Toxodeth (demo) (1988)

Toxodeth, Phantasms (demo) (1988)

Toxodeth, Mysteries About Life and Death (demo) (1989)

Next time: KAT