With the often masterful Blood Incantation, you never quite know what to expect. After the sci-fi death metal hit Hidden History Of The Human Race (2019), they casually (well, maybe not so “casually”) released the synthwave EP Timewave Zero, and the single that followed up included a track in each style. The new release once again brings us technical death metal, ambiance, and cosmic elements, but so much more that the title Absolute Elsewhere might just refer to the music itself (and not only because it nods to the ’70s prog band by the same name). Vocalist-guitarist Paul Riedl describes it as the soundtrack to a Herzog-style Sci-Fi epic about the history of/battle for human consciousness itself, via a 70s Prog album played by a 90s Death Metal band from the future.
He’s not far off, as the familiar Blood Incantation universe expands with pure prog and Pink Floyd-esque atmospheres, the latter even including matching vocals at times. There’s so much going on, over there elsewhere. The varied styles could easily make things feel disjointed, but the album’s structure skillfully avoids this pitfall. We get two songs, each divided into three “suites”, called tablets. Each tablet has a distinctly individual sound, making it easy for listeners to grasp the approach on first listen. Then it’s time to strap in and simply enjoy a journey full of touristic highlights into the far reaches of space.
The first tablet of The Stargate is packed with twisted riffs laid leisurely over fast-paced drums, until an ultra-deep growl calms the drums, while the guitar is pushed to ever more corrupted heights. A minute in, something resembling a “normal” death metal song starts to form, but that’s over in less than 30 seconds. The raw power of the launch fades: we’ve achieved weightlessness, and almost without resistance, we peacefully fly into the unknown, looking around in wonder at synth/mellotron-formed comets. A sweeping, lingering guitar solo (David Gilmour’s name surfaces and not for the last time) pulls us further into a realm of cosmic storms: All Life is suffering! And where suffering doesn’t suffice, the pummeling drums will do their punishing work.
The Stargate [Tablet II] is instrumental, beginning ambient, and, with its spoken text samples, somewhat recalls what Long Distance Calling did on The Very Last Day. An acoustic guitar and flute (presumably played by synth) add a bit of humanity to the coldness of this part of the journey, which, toward the end, faces considerable turbulence (I know, hard to imagine in a vacuum), as the vocals become seething and inhuman, and mechanical riffs and rhythms throw things severely off course. No use to resist, just go with the flow.
The third track propels this malign maelstrom further with a fierce death metal sound and relentless pounding. Well, relentless except that the album is, of course, adventurous, so splendid (and heavy) breaks interrupt the lashing drums. There’s plenty going on here too: screams, grunts, and even clean singing alternate above equally varied musical patterns, with a gloriously dragging Where The Slime Live riff as the cherry on top: Open the stargate!
The Message [Tablet II] begins with some beeps and dives into Cynic territory with a deliciously grumbling fretless bass, but quickly becomes a bit sharper with its fast riffing. However, the expected climax does not occur (or does it?). The tempo drops, the drummer suddenly becomes subtle, and the guitar is barely touched and scarcely distorted: Can you hear them? Calling your name? Sung in a soothing voice that again recalls the previously mentioned Pink Floyd frontman. And yes, it works!
And we’re still far from done, as the third and final part of The Message clocks in at eleven and a half minutes. The track initially rushes ahead with a thrashy sound. That room-filling sound is, of course, hard to sustain, and it’s suddenly interrupted by an alien folk interlude, complete with nature sounds. That festivity seems about to be annihilated by a heavy break, but it turns out the folk can communicate with its heavy counterpart: Lost in shadows… of time. The impressive trip continues, with brutal battering and soulful guitar grins alternating, as there is no escaping the black-hole-heavy grunt: Aaaaah! The rain and thunder sounds closing the album make you feel remarkably small as a human.
To achieve this kaleidoscopic, all-encompassing sound, the band enlisted a fair number of guest musicians in Berlin’s Hansa Studios. Thorsten Quaeschning (of proggers Tangerine Dream) contributed to the synths, mellotron, and programming for Stargate [Tablet II]. Similar elements appear in other tracks, handled by Nicklas Malmqvist (Hällas). Malte Gericke of Sijjin adds the German language to this grand work. It’s fantastic that the band didn’t get swept up in the grandiosity of the Absolute Elsewhere project. They could easily have gone for an overblown production, but – while the sound is excellent – they didn’t. Just listen to those gritty, cardboard-sounding drums in the acceleration of The Message [Tablet I]. No matter how far the cosmic journey goes, Blood Incantation keeps its feet firmly planted on Earth.
For this new cosmic cycle, the band went all out musically and beyond. The album was preceded by an app (complete with a warning about a collision this month with a new red planet constantly transmitting signals) and is accompanied by a short film. I’ve already attached that one for you.
It’s October 4, and finally, here it is: not the collision with a red planet that will wipe out all life on Earth, but my album of the year!
Score:
90/100
Label:
Century Media Records, 2024
Tracklisting:
- The Stargate [Tablet I]
- The Stargate [Tablet II]
- The Stargate [Tablet III]
- The Message [Tablet I]
- The Message [Tablet II]
- The Message [Tablet III]
Line-up:
- Paul Riedl – Guitars, vocals
- Isaac Faulk – Drums
- Morris Kolontyrsky – Guitars
- Jeff Barrett – Bass
Links: