History
John McEntee is the sole constant member of Incantation.
1989–1995
Incantation was formed in August 1989. [1] The original lineup included former Revenant drummer Paul Ledney (who also performed vocals) and guitarist John McEntee, plus former Blood Thirsty Death guitarist Brett Makowski and bassist Aragon Amori. [2] Shortly after recording a rehearsal demo in January 1990, all but McEntee left the band to form the black metal group Profanatica. [2] By March, McEntee had built a new lineup featuring guitarist Sal Seijo, bassist Ronnie Deo, drummer Peter Barnevic, and temporary vocalist Will Rahmer, who joined in return for McEntee filling in on guitar for Mortician. [3] This lineup recorded another demo, plus the EP Entrantment of Evil, before Seijo and Barnevic were replaced in August by Bill Venner and Jim Roe, respectively; Venner left after just a couple of months, with the band playing a show in October as a four-piece. [3]
In November 1990, Craig Pillard was brought in to replace Venner, as well as taking over vocals from the temporary Rahmer. [3] With the new lineup, Incantation released Deliverance of Horrific Prophecies in 1991, followed by their full-length debut Onward to Golgotha in 1992. [4] Deo left in December 1992 after the band's first North American headlining tour, with Dan Kamp taking his place. [5] The new lineup recorded just one song, "Emaciated Holy Figure", which was released on a Relapse Records compilation, before both Roe (for "personal reasons") and Kamp left the band in August 1993. [3] By November, the pair had been replaced by new bassist Dave Niedrist and drummer John Brody, although for recording of the band's second album Mortal Throne of Nazarene in early 1994, Roe filled in on drums, with Brody tasked with preparing for an upcoming tour. [3]
Partway through a tour in July 1994, Pillard decided to leave Incantation; he was temporarily replaced by the band's merchandise salesman Duane Morris, who remained in the position after the tour, when he and McEntee relocated to Cleveland, Ohio. [3] After the move, Morris and McEntee added new bassist Randy Scott and drummer Kyle Severn, although Scott suddenly left just a few days before a tour in October, forcing the remaining trio to play the shows without a bassist. [3] Scott was replaced at the beginning of 1995 by Mike Donnelly, who debuted on a Mexican tour; partway through a run of North American shows in the summer, Morris suddenly left the band, with Daniel Corchado brought in to take his place for the rest of the dates. [3]
1995–2001
Kyle Severn has been Incantation's drummer since 1994, save for two short breaks.
After the end of a tour in August 1995, Corchado returned to his native Mexico and Donnelly left Incantation; McEntee and Severn subsequently recorded a promo demo in early 1996 with former vocalist Will Rahmer, Deathrune guitarist Mike Saez and Prime Evil bassist Mary Ciullo, before touring with vocalist/guitarist Nathan Rossi, bassist Kevin Hughes and Saez. [3] During early 1997, McEntee and Severn recorded The Forsaken Mourning of Angelic Anguish with Hughes and former vocalist Craig Pillard, Tribute to the Goat with Hughes, Pillard and Saez, and bonus tracks for a reissue of The Forsaken Mourning of Angelic Anguish with Pillard and Daniel Corchado on bass. [3] Corchado took over vocals for a tour in the spring/summer, which also featured Saez on guitar, before the band saw out 1997 touring and recording Diabolical Conquest as a trio without a second guitarist. [6]
Before the end of 1997, Rob Yench took over on bass and Corchado switched back to guitar. [7] In June 1998, Corchado left to focus on The Chasm, with Tom Stevens — a former bandmate of Yench's in Morpheus Descends — taking his place for the rest of the current tour, becoming a full-time member after the shows. [3] For a run of Canadian shows in July, Kyle Severn was unable to enter the country, so Soulless drummer Chris Dora temporarily stood in. [8] Severn finished the tour in August, before choosing to leave the band for "numerous reasons that were completely non band related". [9] He was replaced in October by Clay Lytle, who played one show in November before leaving again. [10] At the end of 1998, McEntee again relocated Incantation, this time to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where he added Rick "Slim" Boast to the band's lineup for tour dates in January and February 1999. [11] For a festival appearance in March, Dora once again filled in on drums. [8] Mark Perry took over for US and Canadian dates during April and May. [12]
Tom Stevens left the band in July 1999, with Mike Saez taking over for a pair of shows in Argentina which also featured Dora on drums; Saez became an official member again after the tour. [3] At the end of the year, Saez, McEntee and Yench recorded The Infernal Storm with Malevolent Creation drummer Dave Culross. [7] Prior to the album's release, Death drummer Richard Christy was enlisted as the band's new touring drummer. [13] By August 2000, Kyle Severn had returned to Incantation's lineup. [3]
After John McEntee took over vocal duties in 2003, Sonny Lombardozzi joined as touring lead guitarist. He later rejoined as an official member in 2014.
2001–2007
After a Brazilian tour in May 2001 which spawned a live album, Yench left the band after claiming he was "losing interest". [7] He was replaced by Joe Lombard, who was initially described as "a stand-by replacement". [14] After recording the band's next album Blasphemy , Saez left Incantation in the fall of 2001, with the band enlisting temporary stand-ins Belial Koblak and later Vincent Crowley for 2002 tour dates. [3] At the beginning of 2003, the band played a handful of gigs in Mexico, at which guitarist John McEntee also provided vocals; he subsequently decided to take on the role, with the band officially becoming a trio. [15] At the same time, the group announced the addition of guitarist Lou "Sonny" Lombardozzi as a touring member. [16] During that year's summer tour, Psycroptic's David Haley was forced to fill in for Severn at one show after he injured his wrist. [17]
Lombardozzi was replaced by Thomas Pioli for a run of shows in Brazil in November and Chile in December. [18] However, when the Chile dates were cancelled, the band also announced that Pioli had been fired, calling him a "loser piece of shit", "the most inconsiderate, unappreciative, disrespectful, disgrace of human life Incantation has ever worked with", and a "pill popping, stupid, mental case fucking douche bag". [19] The official trio of McEntee, Lombard and Severn recorded Decimate Christendom in March 2004, which was released in August. [20] For tour dates near the end of the year, Ilmar Uibo stood in for Severn, following his mother's death. [21] During 2005, Roberto Lizárraga stood in for Joe Lombard on bass at several shows due to "family matters". [22] He later returned for shows in Mexico in February 2006, [23] then again in Spain in July that year. [24]
Later in 2006, after recording Primordial Domination , bassist Joe Lombard left Incantation; he later died on January 3, 2012. [25] For shows in February and March 2007, bass was handled by Tomasz "Reyash" Rejek, [26] while former drummer Jim Roe stood in for Severn, who had other commitments. [27] Alex Bouks replaced Rejek for a show in May, [28] before Lizárraga returned in June. [29] For a European tour in the fall, McEntee was joined by Rejek on bass and Craig Smilowski on drums. [30]
2007–2019
At the end of 2007, it was announced that Incantation would be touring with a special lineup early the next year, with McEntee joined by recent touring members Jim Roe (drums) and Alex Bouks (now on guitar), plus former frontman Craig Pillard on vocals. [31] Reyash was initially slated to remain on bass, however by early the next year, Chuck Sherwood had taken his place. [32] Pillard featured at most shows during the spring and summer of 2008, which featured a set centred entirely around the band's first three albums, while other shows were fronted by McEntee and featured material from the band's whole career (four of these shows, in Mexico, featured former touring bassist Roberto Lizárraga). [33] Shows continued until August, when McEntee cancelled remaining shows due to "personal family issues". [34]
Luke Shively was Incantation's touring bassist between 2015 and 2019, before replacing Lombardozzi on lead guitar.
After initially serving as touring-only members, Bouks and Sherwood became official members of Incantation during 2009, when Kyle Severn also returned on drums. [35] Two of the band's shows in October that year featured Lizárraga on bass. [36] Incantation's lineup remained stable for the next few years, and in 2012 the band released its first new material in six years, the single "Degeneration" and the album Vanquish in Vengeance . [37] [38] Prior to the album's release, Sam Inzerra of Mortician and Funerus filled in for Severn on several tour dates. [39] The band released Dirges of Elysium in 2014, which was the last album to feature Bouks before he was dismissed in March that year, after a "few years" of reported "rough waters". [40] He was replaced by former touring guitarist Lou "Sonny" Lombardozzi. [41] Starting in 2015, Sherwood was replaced on tour by Luke Shively. [42]
The new lineup released Profane Nexus in August 2017. [43] Touring drummers continued to be utilised over the next few years when Severn was unavailable, including Jason Longo during 2017, [44] James Coppolino in 2018, [45] and Frank Schilperoort at several points between 2018 and 2020. [46] In 2020, the band released its eleventh album Sect of Vile Divinities — the last to feature Lombardozzi, who was replaced by Shively in late-December 2019, after recording for the album had finished. [42]
Since 2019
Since Luke Shively switched from touring bassist to full-time guitarist, Incantation has enlisted several musicians in recent years to fill in for Chuck Sherwood, who is unable to tour due to commitments at another job. [47] Temporary touring bassists have included Scott Pivarnick in 2022, [48] Dan Vadim Von in 2022 and 2023, [49] Brian Rush in late 2023, [50] Julian Guillen in 2024, [51] and Soikot Sengupta in 2025. [52] Charles Koryn stood in for Kyle Severn during a tour in 2023. [53] The band's official lineup of McEntee, Shively, Sherwood and Severn released a split EP in 2022 with German band Blood, [54] followed by the album Unholy Deification in August 2023. [55]
