Texan death unit Imprecation are back, thankfully with only a three year gap since their last full-length offering; Unfortunately In Nomine Diaboli sees the last performance of drummer/keyboardist Ruben Elizondo, who passed away last year. However, when seen as a (blackened) celebration of the man’s life and contribution to the music he so clearly loved, then this album is undoubtedly a fitting tribute.

It’s also an utterly rip roaring celebration of all that’s good about old school death metal without the music merely evaporating into a morass of nostalgia and pastiche. Agnus Dei (Spill The Blood) could have been written in 1990 just as well as today, and yet retains a freshness that rewards repeated listening without the listener thinking ‘this sounds like (insert name here)’. And when the divebombing axes start on Ars Goetia – let’s just say if the goosebumps aren’t up on your arms then there’s a fair chance In Nomine Diaboli isn’t the album you’re looking for…

Best track Bringer of Sickness is staggeringly effective; the axes of rhythm guitarist Milton Luna perform a debilitating churn over which Dave Herrera belches pure blasphemy whilst Elizondo and Sentinel Daily‘s own house four-stringer Jeff Tandy keep the rhythms grimly solid and unforgiving. Nick Norris‘ lead contributions are brief but telling, cutting through the stygian filth with surgical precision. Simple yet effective, this is death metal for connoisseurs, yes – but it’s also just bloody brilliant music.

Herrera’s vocals on Devil’s Furnace are frankly terrifying, leading me to remember a comment I made about the band’s last album, viz ‘you’ll feel like you need a bath after repeated exposures to Imprecation’; it’s simply the tar black nature of that voice that leaves you feeling coated in pure filth, which of course is a very good feeling indeed. Once again on In Nomine Diaboli, Imprecation prove the all-consuming, all-enveloping nature of true death metal – and prove it with consummate skill.

In Nomine Diaboli releases on October 14th.