Former members of Incantation, and they're local boys to me. The production is pretty bad (particularly the drums), but it's such great plodding, dirty-as-fuck metal that I love it.
Yeah the 2nd is significantly better in terms of songwriting, especially once you get past the first song. First time I spun it I turned it off a minute into the first track. Then I decided to let the whole thing go and fell in love with it.