Blood Incantation : Absolute Elsewhere

Colorado’s Blood Incantation have taken Death Metal to a whole new level. Sure, there’s the growling vocals and the breakneck drumming. As well as the chugging rhythm guitars and lightning fast guitar solos to boot. But guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Paul Riedl sees more in this musical world than who can play the fastest and belch up vocals about death and mutilation. Riedl and the rest of the guys in Blood Incantation see their music as a platform to elevate metal to a higher standard, both viscerally and intellectually.

Ever since the band’s debut EP Interdimensional Extinction back in 2015 Blood Incantation’s metal style has had cosmic touches, and their lyrics showed that as well. Blast beats mixed with moments of heavy grooves and Riedl has always had Moog synthesizers in the musical mix. And when Riedl isn’t fronting Blood Incantation he’s making ambient/New Age drones with analog synths. That world and the world of Blood Incantation came together with the latter’s 2022 Tangerine Dream-heavy Timewave Zero, an analog synth opus that was more Tangerine Dream than Death Angel.

The band returns with the excellent Absolute Elsewhere, a coming together of the band’s progressive death metal and their Moog excursions. Consider this record a death metal level up.

The album consists of two songs, each with three parts. “The Stargate[Tablet I]” opens the album in a fury of guitars, drums, and ominous vocals. A mix of early 80s speed metal and modern extreme metal hit you in the face until the song goes into a slow groove. “The Stargate[Tablet II]” has cosmic, electronic touches thanks to Tangerine Dream stepping in to add their bit of magic. It’s a stunning collaboration that morphs to an acoustic interlude which then goes into proggy, Voivod territory.

The second song cycle “The Message[Tablet I-III]” keeps us on the path that came before, wavering between crushing cosmic metal riffage and the more ethereal synth passages. “The Message[Tablet II]” settles into Pink Floyd vibes as Riedl’s vocals resemble Roger Waters a bit, with the whole piece feeling very Animals-esque. “The Message{Tablet III]” closes the journey out on nearly 12 minutes of whiplash-inducing thrash before ending in ambient touches.

Blood Incantation have upped themselves and their songwriting with every release. Absolute Elsewhere is their best yet, meshing two musical worlds in a genius way while making it singularly their own.