When a band releases a seminal, genre defining record, the follow up can be a bit tricky. After the third-eye opening death metal opus of Hidden History of the Human Race, I wasn’t sure where else Blood Incantation could go. That record perfectly mixed their death metal brutality and proggy sonic exploration in a way that neither undermined the other.
Well…at least it seemed perfect until Absolute Elsewhere. While their brand of punishing death metal is still at the beating heart of this record, it strays further from that center than ever before. I’m not sure anyone could do a better job of explaining it than vocalist/guitarist Paul Reidl, who said it sounds “like the soundtrack to a Herzog-style sci-fi epic about the history of/battle for human consciousness itself, via a ’70s prog album played by a ’90s death metal band from the future.”
The nature of the track listing tells a lot of the story. While the digital version is comprised of six tracks (or “tablets” as they’re labeled), the vinyl lists each side as a single track. (fans will remember Hidden History ended with an eighteen-minute track that took up an entire side of the vinyl. Each piece is a shapeshifting amalgamation of synth-heavy prog rock punctuated by blasts of double pedaled kick drums, detuned guitar riffs, and guttural growls. Tangerine Dream’s Thorsten Quaeschning appears on Tablet II of The Stargate. On Tablet II of The Message, the group does the best Pink Floyd impression anyone’s done in decades (I’m counting Roger Waters’ solo material in that).
They switch between modes with staggering precision, often interrupting the movement before it. And while surprising genre juxtaposition is often used as a bit unto itself, Blood Incantation manages to string these disparate sections together in a way that feels like different parts of a cohesive sonic language. And more importantly, every moment is masterfully executed. There isn’t a single movement on the disc that feels hackneyed or insincere.
Perhaps more than anything though, Absolute Elsewhere traces the through line from 70s progressive rock to extreme metal. After all, death metal didn’t appear ex nihilo. It was the culmination of various deconstructions of rock and roll chased out to their extremes, whether those extremes take the form of more abstract and ambient songs or weaponized volume. And on this record, Blood Incantation offers the best of each.