INCURSION hails from the sunny tropics of Miami, Florida. Yet, their music is anything but palm trees and neon signs. This Heavy Metal 5 piece plays songs in fantasy settings, while playing music you can bang your head to. Their first EP "The Hunter" is a concept album that tells the tale of a dark horse sort of hero, The Hunter and his battles to become the King of all the Land. It's all portrayed with some tasty shred and rad classic Heavy Metal vocals.

  

"The Hunter: Prologue" and "Warrior of Destruction" flow perfectly into one another. The songs have a pure NWOBHM vibe to them with the classic galloping riff style. I love the imagery in the lyrics, the story is portrayed so nicely in tandem with the valiant melodies surrounding. You can truly feel The Hunter's fight for survival at some points, but the bravery and determination really shines in the vibrant melodies. "Guiding Faith" begins with some IRON MAIDEN style 'whoa-oh-ohs' before the main riffs come in. I like the rhythms in this one, it feels like riding on a glorious steed on a legendary quest. "Fade to Black" has more of a darker malice-fueled melody. This song really builds the danger of The Hunter's foe. The melodies in this one are ridiculously catchy while accompanied by some killer high notes from Steve and some excellent shred in that guitar solo.

 

"Kingdom of the Dead" certainly paints a hellish landscape with the lower, chuggy riffs and some melancholy bells of defeat ringing at the start. This song is Heavy Speed Metal with some break neck headbang worthy pacing and awesome shred during that battle scene solo. The ending with the The Hunter taking out the false king was pretty damn rad. It of course leads into the short triumphant outro track "The Hunter: King of All the Land".

 

Overall, INCURSION cultivated a kick ass first EP with "The Hunter". It's a great intro to what they're all about and it's mainly pure unadulterated Heavy Metal, the classic old-school sound from the heart of the 80s. I also really loved that this was a concept album; storytelling is always a big positive for me. They told the story of The Hunter with the lyrics, but the music also built the atmosphere in a way that brought the story to audible life. I'm a sucker for medieval or fantasy tales, so I got pretty involved with this short but valiant tale as the songs galloped along. 22 minutes had me pretty enveloped; I can't wait to hear what this 5 piece will bring with a full length album.