I’m a little out of my depth here, but this album is so cool that I want to share some thoughts, even if they have already been better articulated elsewhere.
I first heard Blood Incantation when their 2019 album started to gain some steam. Old school death metal and aliens, what a fun combo. But then they released an ambient album in 2022 with no vocals and I thought they had lost the plot. It was fine as a toned down version of the Interstellar sound track but a far cry from what fans had come to expect.
So who could have guessed that Blood Incantation would return in 2024 with the best album of their careers. ‘Absolute Elsewhere’ is a cosmic journey into the outer reaches of our universe.
It capitalizes on moments of experimentation that we’ve seen in the past and fully embraces those progressive impulses, using them as thrusters to launch this album into the heavens.
Musically, this album is insanely cohesive. It flows beautifully between old school death metal and flourishing progressive passages. It’s effortless to listen to despite the radical stylistic differences, bursts of energy, and accompanying moments of reprieve. It’s like watching a tesseract unfold. You’re aware that something special is happening, but you don’t fully understand what you’re witnessing. Nevertheless, it’s a joy to see and you feel like you caught a glimpse of the universe’s secrets. A good example is the start of “The Message [Tablet I].”
The progressive influences are reminiscent of those from the 70’s. I’m not super familiar with Pink Floyd or the other bands from that time, but the second half of “The Message [Tablet II]” is what I imagine when I think of them. And then, like getting woken from a cryogenic sleep after drifting through space, “The Message [Tablet III]” jolts the listener back to life with some fast paced death metal.
It feels appropriate to talk about “vibes” with this album. I feel like the 70’s would like that. Well, the vibes are immaculate. With an old school death metal foundation, progressive influences from decades past, and songs about aliens, outer space, death, and our purpose in life, ‘Absolute Elsewhere’ is the question and the answer.
If you told me that Blood Incantation wrote this album in between games of Dungeons and Dragons in a sunken living room styled by Austin Powers, I’d believe you. The vision and execution of this album could only be done by a band that truly loves this stuff.
‘Absolute Elsewhere’ will be hard to top. We’ve seen Blood Incantation experiment with an ambient album so who knows what they’ll try next. The one word of caution that I would offer the band: they should continue to take a measured approach with the progressive elements. I would hate for them to lean too far in and get lost in the sauce like Rivers of Nihil did on ‘The Work.’
Blood Incantation // Absolute Elsewhere
Categories: Reviews
