Despite how unorthodox and genre-defiant their music is, Blood Incantation have cooked up a storm in the metal scene in recent years, earning a devout following with 2019’s ‘Hidden History of the Human Race.’ Even those who weren’t as enthralled by the group’s progressive tendencies could get down with their old-school death metal riffs, placing the group on an assuredly upwards trajectory. It was a massive surprise then— and a letdown for some— to see the four-piece abandon that sound on 2022’s ‘Timewave Zero,’ an ambient collage of spacey synths and mysterious atmospheres. Thankfully, whether you enjoyed one album or the other is irrelevant in 2024: the group’s newest project, ‘Absolute Elsewhere,’ is like a combination of their previous output, cranked all the way up to eleven.

Blood Incantation have returned to death metal on this project, and have taken to it more forcefully and confidently than ever. The band have, once again, opted for production that harkens back to the genre’s roots, dialling in a much less glossy, polished sound than you might expect from a modern release. Instead, Isaac Faulk’s drums are left almost completely dry, resulting in a harsh and brittle sound reminiscent of many classic metal albums from the 80s and 90s. The guitars and bass, similarly, are hardly constrained by the mix, allowing the endless chugging grooves and squealing pinch harmonics to go completely unchecked. Though Paul Riedl’s harsh vocals aren’t the strongest, often being buried in layers and reverbs to hide how thin and wispy they are, the overall production of the album is consistently brilliant, and the band make great use of this fertile sound palate. 

From the very opening of ‘The Stargate [Tablet I],’ the group are hitting you with riffs more vicious and performances more aggressive than even ‘Hidden History of the Human Race’ could conjure up as the four-piece assert their dominance over the modern death metal scene. ‘Absolute Elsewhere’ is not a particularly long album, yet the band have crammed an incredible amount of metal ear-candy throughout, supplementing their chugging guitar riffs with a host of time signature changes and unorthodox note choices. In fairness, not every riff hits the spot as the band can sometimes lean too far into their progressive interests while forgetting their roots: the middle of ‘The Message [Tablet I]’, for instance, sticks to a particularly awkward groove for far too long, making this a weak moment for the album. When the stars align, however, few bands can achieve the sheer momentum and gravitas of a passage like the ending of ‘The Stargate [Tablet III],’ where the crushing riffs, fluid lead guitar lines and dominating bellows of “open the stargate” are nigh-on unstoppable.

Of course, those death metal passages are only one side of ‘Absolute Elsewhere’— after all, Blood Incantation didn’t experiment with ambient soundscapes on ‘Timewave Zero’ for nothing. The band often delve headfirst into spacey psychedelia throughout the record, exchanging their guttural guitars and harsh growls for distant synths, harmonised chanting, soft lead lines and more. The opening track, for instance, quickly abandons into thunderous riffs for a smooth jam remarkably reminiscent of Pink Floyd: perhaps too reminiscent, in fact, as the band can sometimes struggle to carve out a unique sound from their influences. Even still, passages such as this are simply wondrous, with the continuously beautiful melodic lines and chord progressions complementing the sublime sound choices like a hand fitting a glove. ‘The Stargate [Tablet II]’ is probably the frontrunner in this respect, with the ominous vocals (a sample from the 1980 movie ‘Contamination’) sitting comfortably against a guest synth solo from Tangerine Dream’s Thorsten Quaeschning.

The biggest downfall of ‘Absolute Elsewhere,’ in all honesty, is simply that these excellent soundscapes aren’t better utilised. Despite how pretty they can be, many clean guitar breaks end up feeling largely superfluous as the band abandon them far too soon for yet another death metal riff, often stacking disconnected ideas on top of one another with a severe lack of connective tissue. Adding insult to injury, Blood Incantation can struggle to transition between these ideas effectively, often lurching between bestial screams and soothing melodies in a somewhat clumsy manner. 

Despite this, however, ‘Absolute Elsewhere’ winds up as a shockingly cohesive listen from front-to-back, driving towards the momentous finale of ‘The Message [Tablet III]’ with only minor difficulty. Though the band’s writing and composition may still be a little rough around the edges, their latest project is an undeniable culmination of everything they’ve released previously, sporting more than enough crushing riffs and intrepid sound choices to live up the record’s lofty spacial themes. Blood Incantation may preach that “all life is suffering that basks in nothingness,” but the sheer enjoyment of listening to their new release says otherwise.