Blood Incantation is probably the most divisive critically-acclaimed metal band to come along since Deafheaven dropped that pink album in 2013. You either love Blood Incantation’s ever-evolving fusion of death metal, psychedelic rock, and midnight-bong-session soundscapes, or you complain that they get categorized as death metal but don’t sound exactly like early Deicide.
Purist gatekeepers aside, this Denver crew is one of the most original, virtuosic, and visionary bands, with some of the most diverse influences, to hit the metal scene in a long time. And if you think the band’s chemistry is some kind of fluke, just check out their multitude of side projects, most notably death-doom juggernaut Spectral Voice, spaghetti-western-influenced Wayfarer, or frontman Paul Riedl’s vast assortment of ambient projects.
This is a no-bad-albums band, but we’ll do our best.
5. Interdimensional Extinction (2015)
A re-release of the band’s original demo, this is (very relatively speaking) as close to meat-and-potatoes OSDM as you’re gonna get from their discography thus far, though it’s already hinting at the psychedelic realms that are gonna hit full-force soon after. The lead guitar work, especially on “Hovering Lifeless,” is the kind of shredding that, in lesser hands, would seem wanky and lifeless, but that just absolutely works for this material. Bonus points for having the coolest cover in their discography. A Saturn-like planet where the rings seem to be made not just of ice and vaporized rock, but also skulls? Pretty much a perfect visual capture of what these guys are all about.
Play it Again: “Hovering Lifeless” and “Obfuscating the Linear Threshold”
Skip It: “The Vth Tablet (of Enuma Ellis)”
4. Timewave Zero (2022)
If you want to see metalheads absolutely lose their minds, read or watch some of the reviews/reactions to this album. Despite the band being pretty upfront about the fact that they had something very different from their previous work in the offing, the release of a two-track ambient synth album was just too much for some listeners, even the ones who DON’T begrudge Blood Incantation for not sounding like early Deicide. Moody, deceptively-complex, and recorded analog on a veritable arsenal of Moog products, this one is jarring to hear for the first time, especially if you ignored the press releases and thought you were getting more Gorgutsian tech-death, only to get 40 minutes of Brian Eno meets Bernard Xolotl meets one of those 10-hour “fall asleep in 5 minutes” YouTube videos. But as a spaced-out dark ambient record? This shit slays.
Play it Again: “Ea”
Skip It: There are only two tracks, and “Ea” is slightly better than “Io,” so do with that what you will.
Honorable Mention: Luminescent Bridge (2023)
This is a two-track EP (or “maxi-single” if you prefer, which we do not) with one more-or-less death metal song and one more-or-less ambient song, the latter of which includes a straight-from-the-80s guitar solo with the harmonized tone of hair metal but a melodic solemnity that would have fit perfectly with a montage of scenes from “Top Gun” or “Iron Eagle.” They toured on this thing opening for Gorguts, Mayhem, and Cannibal Corpse, if that gives you some sense of what an eclectic oddball record it is.
Play it Again: “Obliquity of the Ecliptic”
Skip It: Look, again, it’s only two tracks, so our powers of deduction give us a very obvious candidate. But also, c’mon, who doesn’t like an Iron Eagle montage soundtrack?
3. Starspawn (2016)
Technically their first full-length, this is practically a dissertation on the awesomeness of complex death metal with a thick layer of cosmic psychedelia. It has a certain sense of purity, as the band recorded it before they had a ton of hype to live up to. We’d also call it their most accessible album; no matter what sub-subgenre you prefer, this should be regarded as the Blood Incantation album that every death metal fan can agree on, unless you’re just looking for a reason not to.
Play it Again: “Chaoplasm”
Skip It: We don’t really recommend that
2. Absolute Elsewhere (2024)
This record is going to be near or at the top of so many year-end lists. At least one reviewer has described it as “Morbid Floyd,” given that there are parts that sound like “Altars of Madness” and parts that sound like “Shine on You Crazy Diamond,” and that’s a pretty apt description, but it still doesn’t capture just how off-the-wall and original this album is. Listen closely and you’ll find everything from Yes to King Crimson to Krallice to 2nd-wave black metal to (OMG) Deicide influencing the proceedings. The band continues to show their ambient soundscape bona fides with a guest appearance by the legendary Tangerine Dream. Tempo shifts, of which you’ll find plenty, might be a hallmark of tech-forward metal, but Blood Incantation ups the ante by being unafraid to have just as many tonal shifts. There are lots of pretty decent death metal albums that start the intensity at 10 and stay there until the final note. This is not an issue on Absolute Elsewhere. It’s one of the most sonically-diverse releases the genre has ever seen.
Play it Again: All of it. This is a concept album in the purest sense, and should be an immersive start-to-finish experience
Skip it: Would you skip a track on Dark Side of the Moon? No? Exactly.
1. Hidden History of the Human Race (2019)
Not very original of us to choose this for #1, but more than five years after the band dropped this hyped-to-hell-and-back album, it still holds up just fine, thank you very much. It roars out of the gate with “Slave Species of the Gods,” an unapologetic early Morbid Angel-influenced number accompanied by Riedl’s inimitable death growl. This is followed by some delightful squeak-squawk guitar riffs courtesy of Morris Kolontyrsky on “The Giza Power Plant,” a track that ultimately sounds like it’s from “…And Justice for All,” if Kirk Hammett had followed George Harrison’s example and studied middle eastern and Indian music for awhile. The whole affair is beautifully complemented by the rhythm section. Isaac Faulk’s blast beats and Jeff Barrett’s twisty fretless bass parts provide an indispensable counterpoint, not just a backdrop, to Riedl and Kolontyrsky’s guitars. The ambient interludes are just the right length to add atmosphere without seeming like they’re padding out the runtime, and the closing track “Awakening from the Dream of Existence to the Multidimensional Nature of our Reality (Mirror of the Soul)” is a 17-minute beast.
This album might not have the musical diversity of “Absolute Elsewhere,” but it’s a career-defining monster, and if you somehow haven’t heard it…get on that.
Play it Again: All
Skip It: None