NEVERMIND pushing the envelope, how about completely ripping open the parcel open and utterly bamboozling listener expectations?
Make no mistake. Blood Incantation’s latest long player is absolutely the business, fully justifying the hype and buzz surrounding it. Boasting just two tracks, Absolute Elsewhere has topped many a fan forum and online poll for album of the year. This is not just limited to extreme metal lists but it has even entered mainstream consciousness. For instance, the esteemed Metal Hammer named it Album of the Year while Decibel ranked it at second. For good measure, even the ultra-conservative Time magazine ranked it seventh on its Top 10 albums of 2024!
This highlights the buzz around one of the most astounding long players of the year and boy, does it deliver. Taking the band’s love of progressive rock and melding it with the quintet’s brooding death metal sound, they have upped the ante as far as progressive, technical metal is concerned.
Blood Incantation has taken the spirit of Voivod and mixed it with elements of Dream Theatre, Rush and not least Pink Floyd, the band has created an absolute magnum opus. While the likes of Death and Gorguts have elevated the technical death metal genre in the past, this is quite literally a giant leap in terms of vision and concept.
Blood Incantation has described the album as an imaginary soundtrack to a 1970s sci-film by Werner Herzog, as played by a death metal band of the future. Each side of the LP contains just one 20-minute long track, split into “parts” or “tablets” (just like Floyd’s epic Wish You Were Here), the tunes are completely immersive and invites repeated, consecutive listens. The complex time signatures are not there just for the sake for it but actually take the listeners on an epic psychedelic voyage. There is not one moment that is wasted on a pointless drum solo or extended guitar pyrotechnics. Instead, dedicated music fans will be entertained by an almost seamless transition from metal, progressive and even ambient elements to constantly evoke surprise and awe.
The change in tempo, vibe and even mood within the same composition is quite simply breathtaking, swerving between cranium-crushing passages and melodic interludes with consummate ease and no small amount of stylistic nous. The album sucks listeners into a giant vortex of sound that is just remarkable in its ability to switch between genres, conjuring images of deep space and volcanic eruptions in equal measures. Those who treat music as more than just background sound will absolutely love the compelling nature of this long player.
This might just be the breakout moment for the band, possibly even eclipsing Opeth and In Flames shift into mainstream success. This album is the bomb and certainly justifies the positive online feedback from fans and critics alike.
Produced by Arthur Rizk, Absolute Elsewhere was recorded in Hansa Tonsudio in Berlin and is released on the Century Media label. This cosmic masterpiece can be sampled on all major streaming platforms while physical copies were spotted at Kutu Berahak Records, with the compact disc retailing at RM70 while the vinyl edition is double that.
