I once went to a local record store and found Inquisition's "Into the Infernal Regions of the Ancient Cult." I thought the artwork was awesome, so I bought it without having had any prior knowledge of the band or its music. I didn't enjoy it at firstwhat with the moaning vocals and the weird riffs making it so unexpected, it turned me off. I eventually took it under my wing again and found myself deeply enjoying it for the same reasons that had irked me in the first place. Inquisition has that effect, I've found; they're quite polarizing, with few opinions resting in the middle and a long gestation period recommended for newcomers. Well, I enjoy the group quite a lot now and have grown fond of many of their works. This two-piece is usually utterly brilliant or at least an interesting group that has developed its own visionary spectrum of black metal.Listening to "Obscure Verses for the Multiverse" shows Inquisition sticking to the band's main strengths, a superb effort as expected. Inquisition's modus operandi often soars between imaginative black metal riffs, sudden slow lurches, and atypical vocals that, when meshed together, create a great whirlpool of dark atmosphere. The tempo changes and unique guitar work have made Inquisition a strange yet attractive beast, and Dagon's riffing style is one of the more innovative weapons in black metal; his frantic, unique chops again sound magical against the cryptic atmosphere. Nothing here strikes me as pioneering or evolutionary, but Inquisition's ability to still write fresh, memorable anthems without changing up the musical spine is just amazing. These are some of the finest hymns they've ever penned.
The dudes of Inquisition are simply fantastic songwriters: their pieces weave through multitudes of grooves, odd guitar parts, atmospheric passages, and ethereal bridgesall packaged in the group's flowing trance-like ambience. "Obscure Verses for the Multiverse" is strange, but it focuses on traditional black metal elements that have been morphed into the band's own vision of the genre, and it's an identity that's created a world of perplexing superiority. "Force of the Floating Tomb" and "Arrival of Eons After" come off as the prime selections, although each track makes its force felt through a stellar mixture of Inquisition's black metal and the surreal production floating within the cosmic energy.
Dagon and Incubus are exceptional musicians who have together instilled several integral flavors that drive Inquisition's style of black metal. The skill and creativity have seeped into the blood of Inquisition's albums, and "Obscure Verses for the Multiverse" is exactly what the band represents instrumentally and philosophically. The hallmarks of Inquisition's sound continue to chug and churn in familiar fashion, yet it's the group's collective efforts that keep the fantastic enterprise of instrumental alchemy both intriguing and monumental. "Obscure Verses for the Multiverse" ends up eking its way up among the finest of Inquisition's releases. I'm more inclined to proclaim "Into the Infernal Regions of the Ancient Cult" as the band's finest work, yet this is among a clutter of stellar Inquisition records that are an arm's reach from dethroning its magnum opus.