Invictus Nocturnal Visions Review
Invictus
Nocturnal Visions
Memento Mori / Me Saco Un Ojo
2026
As the resident (read: only) death metal guy here, I get all the gore-soaked, fire-and-brimstone, graven grotesqueries belched forth from the filthiest reaches of the underground and below at BAP. I’m fine with this, as I tend to love all iterations of it—from the old school, the new school, the melodic to the technical, the slams, and the newer stuff that tends to utilize metal-forward hardcore. Death metal is consistently evolving as it enters its fourth decade in existence. Occasionally, though, a band like Japan’s Invictus comes along dripping in homage to the early ’90s while simultaneously adding their own spin to it. Let's examine their second album, Nocturnal Visions, whaddya say?
Invictus came to undead life in 2015 as a trio hailing from Nagano City. Their goal at the time was “to play death metal with hints of technicality and a strong thrash metal edge, combining the morbid grooves and abhorrent atmospherics of all archaic death metal gods (Death, Malevolent Creation, Monstrosity, Brutality, Mercyless, Morbid Angel, Gorguts, Obituary, early Decapitated, Sadistic Intent, early Cannibal Corpse).” Taking influence from so many classic bands within the field is not only lofty but runs the risk of sounding like the 12,000th version of any of them. However, with this being a modern album, the production is way tighter, cleaner, and evenly mixed compared to the time, money, and equipment constraints their favorites had to deal with. Every instrument has its place firmly in the overall mix, and I'm glad to hear that Invictus lets the bass be audible and have its own moments on a handful of songs, something that isn't typical of material of this nature, so it's a nice surprise.
The nine songs here begin with an atmospheric intro featuring mournful piano, effective eerie guitar noises, and underlying keyboards. It's over in a mere 40 seconds before a rolling distorted bass line gives way to busy palm-muted chromatic riffing, low and deep guttural vocals, and blinding speed on “Abyssal Earth Eradication.” “Altar of Devoted Slaughter” blasts throughout, only to bookend things with a stomping breakdown that will have early Suffocation fans grinning from ear to ear. This song is easily the catchiest, and double-basses its way into a whammy bar–abusing lead break where the tempo is accelerated once again before it's all over. Another standout is “Lucid Dream Trauma,” which bludgeons the listener with a mid-paced, slower Obituary-like crawl, yet it never ventures into doom or funeral doom territory. Toward this song’s conclusion, there are some very tasteful and serpentine guitar runs that flex their tech side, too. “Persecution Madness” steps on the gas once more and treats us to some very adept lead guitar soloing midway through. For my money, the crushing mid-tempo, breakdown-like verses of “Wandering Ashdream” hit all the right headbangable buttons before they close things out with the final and most involved track (also the album’s longest, clocking in at 8:01), the title track “Nocturnal Visions.” The pacing of these sonic slabs of putridity never gets stale, offers plenty of twists and turns, and my attention was captivated the entire time of just shy of 35 minutes. Old-school aficionados they may be, yet Invictus keeps things fresh, as I mentioned earlier, by varying the tempos, writing concise and utterly wrecking-ball-heavy riffs, adding just the right amount of dissonance, technically proficient musicianship, and never riding a part or multiple song parts to the point of boredom. Creepy cover art (rendered by Juanjo Castellano) that is era-appropriate caps this off perfectly as well.
To sum things up, I know there are tons of bands giving the early- to mid-1990s style of death metal a go in 2025 and into the incoming new year, but Invictus does it better than any I have heard recently. These morbid merchants from the land of the Rising Sun have just earned a “top albums of 2026” entry with this mean-mugging, knuckle-dragging, cave-dwelling mutated beast. Press play only if you aren't afraid of being hacked up and thrown into a torture basement somewhere in the woods… brutality of the utmost enjoyable kind.
RIYL : Barnes era Cannibal Corpse, Obituary, Morbid Angel, Incantation, Mortification, Gorguts
~TB