#zemial

Blood Incantation: Absolute Elsewhere (2024)

There aren't too many absolutes left in this crazy world, but one of 2024's absolute musical certainties appears to be the critical supremacy of Blood Incantation's third long-player, Absolute Elsewhere, and I, for one, agree that it's entirely deserved.

Though they formed over a decade ago, Denver, Colorado-based Paul Riedl (vocals, guitar), Morris Kolontyrsky (guitar), Jeff Barrett (bass), Isaac Faulk (drums) have multi-tasked with numerous parallel bands over the years, most notably funeral doom/thrash coffin-raiders Spectral Voice.

And, despite its rather misleading moniker, Blood Incantation is arguably their most sophisticated endeavor; dedicated to crafting adventurous fusions of advanced progressive metal and brutal old-school death metal, behind evocative sci-fi scenarios that would make space metal pioneers Voivod proud.

However, unlike countless contemporary metal-nauts who rely on their elders for inspiration (I'm looking at you, Vektor), Blood Incantation have forged a surprisingly fresh mélange of space metal hallmarks, old and new, for Absolute Elsewhere. (*)

The album consists of two, side-long suites sub-titled 'The Stargate' and 'The Message,' each broken down into three contiguous parts, or 'Tablets,' so the pyramids and obelisks that grace the gatefold cover art's alien landscape really set the stage for what's to come.

And that's a masterfully orchestrated clash of musical styles and dynamic extremes, as "The Stargate - Tablet I" shifts nimbly from cascading leads over sinister power chords, to a quasi-reggae-groove, before returning to metallic fury led by Riedl's fearsome, "if a black hole could talk" roar.

"Tablet II" is an instrumental featuring seminal Kraut-electronica greats Tangerine Dream (**) that gradually adds classic prog- and psych-rock elements (cue the synth-flute!) on its way to "Tablet III's" renewed metallic muscle, amid tribal percussion and other foreign genre splicings.

To better experience all three movements in toto, may I suggest checking out this surprisingly elaborate, 20-minute music video illustrating the 'Stargate' concept.

Over to side two and one could say that "The Message" offers more of the same, except that the lyrics turn inward to philosophical matters and that Tangerine Dream gives way to the influence of Pink Floyd (***), but that's simply not fair given Blood Incantation's continued quest to combine intricate sonic extremity with surprising immediacy.

So trust me when I say that "The Message - Tablet III" will keep you riveted throughout its eclectic, imaginative eleven-plus-minutes and leave you asking for more from a band that, as someone accurately commented, "gets better with every hair that falls out."

In sum: coming at a point in time where almost everything in rock and metal has already been done, and there are simply no stones left unturned under the Sun, Absolute Elsewhere offers an awe-inspiring, cosmic-scale achievement from Blood Incantation.

Like all absolutes, this one's absolutely essential.

* Which, incidentally, is named after an obscure mid '70s prog-rock side-project led by Yes and King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford.

** Or at least its present iteration led by Thorsten Quaeschning, who apparently took the reins after the 2015 death of Tangerine Dream founder Edgar Froese.

*** Complete with signature somnambulant vocals à la David Gilmour from German multi-instrumentalist and singer Malte Gericke (a.k.a. Mors Dalos Ra and Mordra Von Kaldesstein), I believe.

ZEMIAL “Sleeping under Tartarus” EP 1992 (An early milestone of Dark Hellenic Occult Black Metal art)

“Screaming blasphemous names In the nocturnal wind Carving the eternal seals Invoke the Ancient Kings In the freezing vast desert I spill my blood upon the altar I summon the Dragon of Chaos I bow down before thee and Hail The blazing crown of the night Hath fallen to our possession Ishnigarrab shall walk through the rays Azagthoth is rising on his feet The mighty priest awakes From the eternal dark depths At thousand milleniums of sin Deluge to the kingdom of infidels Reign of the forgotten All we disciples rejoice At last the rebirth of the Cult Revenge burns in our veins !”

ZEMIAL to have classic debut EP reissued by THE SINISTER FLAME and DARK DESCENT