Blood Incantation - Absolute Elsewhere (2024)^{Release ID: 55146}

It should come as no surprise, but technical death metal is not my strong suit. There are very few acts in this genre of music that resonate with me. Far too often I find that these bands are too show-y for their own good, and it usually results in albums feeling less like musical endeavors and more like show off sessions. Bands like Ulcerate have recently shown me how this genre can be executed well, while Blood Incantation have gotten close.

Blood Incantation’s brand of technical death metal always had a classic flare to it, but with compositions that were firmly in the modern era. I was most intrigued by the bands 2022 EP Timewave Zero as a minimalist synthwave album. It showed real promise and opened a well of possibilities where they could take their next project. And that project turned into Absolute Elsewhere, which is a space opera not that dissimilar to Pestilence’s Spheres.

And Blood Incantation nailed it here. The album is basically in two acts broken up into six movements. The first act, “The Stargate” gives the impression of an amalgamation of the band’s death metal roots, and their synthwave escapade. There are massive dynamic shifts here they sound great. I never found the heavier death metal sections to become too overwhelming in the mixing or intensity; Arthur Rizk did an excellent job in this regard.

The second act, “The Message” is much more inline with Blood Incantations death metal sound. However, those expecting the more technical sounds of Hidden History of the Human Race might be disappointed. The technical proficiency has been set aside in favour of more diverse song structures; uncommon time signatures, wild tempo/style changes, and more motivic development. And the result is a passionate story that feels fully realized through modulation and growth. If you were to analyze this album as two songs, both parts are evenly deserving of their extended runtimes.

The main issue that I have with Absolute Elsewhere is the abandonment of technical death roots. Sure, they are here, but they feel like afterthoughts to the synthesized additions. The problem with “The Stargate” is that the synthwave passages feel far too elongated, especially during the second “tablet.” I think this album could have been even better if those synth parts had been more interwoven into the death metal foundation, instead of serving more as an interlude.

But I feel like I can overlook this when the rest of the project is so well constructed. I can imagine that some of the more hardcore tech-death fans would find Absolute Elsewhere a bit of a letdown with this style change, but the prog-death crowd should absolutely love this. Take your classic space operas and add this to the lexicon.

Best Songs: The Stargate [Tablet's I & III], The Message [Tablet's I & III]