Review by Rexorcist for Blood Incantation - Absolute Elsewhere (2024)
This is it, the conclusion of my Blood Incantation marathon. This is the album that gave me reason to check them out, and I finally have room for them on my albums log as my need to explore other genres made me late to this party. A death metal album taking influence from the 70's German rock and electronic scene? For a wacko like me, that's a dream to good to be true. But what with all the dick-sucking going around for this album, one can't help but wonder, does it live up to the legend, or is it overhyped?
Immediately the prog rock and prog electronic influences are used as key ingredients in the hyperactive death metal, but the album also makes a point of switching genres mid-song from death metal to prog rock two minutes into Stargate Pt. 1. I have to admit, while the instrumentation was beyond magnificent, rivaling the best aspects of their incredible debut, the sudden genre switch was a little jarring. I would've preferred a little more buildup and a little more death in the beginning. Was this a bad omen, or would I learn to accept that after hearing the rest of the album? Stargate Pt. 2 was an intriguing and powerful prog electronic track that recalled all the best aspects of Tangerine Dream and Vangelis while remaining a Blood Incantation song, proving that they've mastered the art of electronics after having struggled so much with it on their previous ambient EP, Timewave Zero. In the last two minutes, it carefully turns into a prog rock song with some beautiful Tullian flute. Even the last bit of death metal feels pretty naturally handled. Pt. 3 makes for some fantastic death metal in both technique and production. There's this middle section of acoustic guitars mimicking the worldbeat vibes of The Tea Party, but it doesn't last long enough, unfortunately. And some of the electronics that make the album so unique are present at the end, but not for long.
The next epic, the three part Message, begins with a more upbeat, melodic and almost alternative take on death metal, one that recalls the noisy but anthemic and somewhat aquatic atmospheres of Biomech. But after 50 seconds, they switch back to the same old death metal. Thankfully, the extremities are met at a capacity I have only ever dreamed about! They go back to the original format after another 50 seconds or so, which is an interesting take and makes me glad there's more of that new sound involved. But once again, the standard but impressive death metal sound overtakes the balance. I mean, they're playing some excellent riffs that make me wanna rip my shirt off and fly into the sun with a bottle of whiskey, but shouldn't they take the time to really expand on the new tricks? Part 2 goes right into the prog rock, pulled right out of the 70's British scene with surprisingly authentic melodies that blend with the death sound on occasion. It even has vocals that sound way too much like Roger Waters. But if they could do that all along, then they SHOULD'VE used them a little more in previous tracks to expand on the various tricks they were trying to play. Still, this one revived both the Pink Floyd prog and the more conventional kind of prog in one go while maintaining the atmospheric strengths of previous Blood Incantation albums.
And then... Part 3 took me by 100% surprise by introducing itself with a power metal riff of all things. It has a tendency to switch things around though, as, once again, the power metal was not lived up to. But it DID do an excellent job of maintaining many of the past sounds and tricks at a reasonable balance beyond that while delivering on of their best epics since Vitrification. This one is easily the most epic-feeling song on the album, recalling the whole spirit of the band and its improved sense of effects and reverberations, as well as Faulk's wonderful drumming. This song is also an excellent example of how our two guitarists have impeccable synchronization. All is a relatively perfect harmony until in fades into aquatic sound effects, bringing our epic to a close.
This also closes my epic adventure in the Blood Incantation catalog. What with this genre-tagging including space rock and Berlin school, I was stunned that a death metal album was finally attempting these things. It's been 30 years since Emperor put synths in black metal, so an album like this is way late. However, was it perfect? While I admire a band for trying to reinvent the genre, there were some areas where the unique tricks and extra genre choices needed a little more balance. If they fix that on the next album, you may end up having the greatest death metal album in the world.
97