Invictus
Nagano three-piece dealing riff-obsessed old school death metal with a thrash metal spine and hellish imagery.
About
Invictus formed in Nagano City in 2015 with a clear objective: death metal packed with riffs, laced with technicality, and driven by thrash. The three-piece â guitarist/vocalist Takehito Seki, bassist/vocalist Toshihiro Seki, and drummer Haruki Tokutake â started with demos and worked their way to "The Catacombs of Fear" (2020), released through Obliteration Records in Japan and FDA Records in Germany. That debut full-length drew comparisons to Coffins, Death, Pestilence, and the earliest Carcass, staking out territory in the old school death/grind corner of the late '80s and early '90s. Their second album "Nocturnal Visions" arrived January 2026 via Me Saco un Ojo Records and Iron Fortress Records, recorded and mixed by Takanori Kubo at Studio Chaosk. The cover art by Juanjo Castellano Rosado and the logo by Christophe Szpajdel (the man behind Emperor's iconic logo) signal where this band's aesthetic loyalties lie. They describe their current direction as "Riff-Death Metal" â a broader palette than the debut, but still built on the same foundation of crushing, hook-laden brutality. They play 20-30 shows a year, favoring small underground venues, and are now pushing into international territory with a European appearance at Skallyfest in Belgium booked for May 2026. Influences run from Spawn of Possession and Demolition Hammer to Morbid Saint and Malevolent Creation. Lyrics draw from nightmares, demons, and hell â the classic death metal imagination, rendered with conviction.