Timewave Zero (Century Media) is, to say the least, not what you’d expect from the band picture of the Blood Incantation. The almost archetypal group of hirsute metalheads, adorned with bullet belts and indecipherable long sleeves trying to look hard in a graveyard. Even by their own standards of innovative recordings though this is a pretty-radical departure from their previous albums.
They’ve always had that air of the cosmic and the psychedelic, ‘Inner Paths (To Outer Space)’ from the acclaimed Hidden History of the Human Race (Dark Descent) being the most immediate example. Timewave Zero seeks to explore that side of their sound exclusively. A quick Google will inform you that the album title stems from the theories of notable psychedelic enthusiast Terence McKenna. Although a subsequent trip down a YouTube rabbit hole left me none the wiser what any of it actually meant.
So, what’s the album like? Well for starters it’s not death metal, it’s not even metal at all tbh it’s entirely different, and honestly, that great. This is a synth heavy cosmic soundscape which comprises of two lengthy tracks. Each of the two tracks is nominally divided into 4 movements. There’s a 3rd track, the 27-minute ‘Chronophagia’; a CD exclusive I cannot wait to also experience.
The first track ‘IO’ starts off with low thrumming introduction reminiscent of the intro to Dark Side of the Moon (Harvest) except it stays in that space throughout, never venturing down the popular path. The deep frequencies upon frequent listens have never failed to produce a truly visceral release of tension. It’s all very new age and by the end of the second movement of ‘IO’ it feels very much like a long slow exhale of tension after a hard day or week. Indeed, it’s not truly new age soundscapes either, there’s Riff’s Jim, but not as we know it; hooks which drag your consciousness along with it.
Second track ‘EA’ starts with a more immediate tone, at times even an undercurrent of sinister tones. That feeling that anyone who’s spent any time meditating will know of your attention being drawn away, sensations rendered in the recording quite expertly it must be said. This soundscape feels like the cosmic dance of stellar giants as played out over countless aeon’s, crystalized in music.
Music, indeed, art of any nature, is designed to make us feel and experience complex thoughts, concepts and emotions that cannot be described with mere words. There’s music to dance to, music to f**k to, music to hurl yourself at strangers in a mosh pit to; this is music to dream to, music to make you feel at one with the cosmos itself, and in that respect Timewave Zero is an exemplary accomplishment.
This soundscape takes your mind on a journey of wonderment and infinite cosmological beauty, this has been amazing to play in the background whilst meditating, or out whilst walking in nature. It’s no doubt that this album will be divisive to fans of Blood Incantation and especially death metal fans in general, the introspective and transcendental nature of the offering guaranteed to make each listen a deeply personal affair: I will be listening to this for a long time to come.
Buy the album here: https://bloodincantation.lnk.to/
9 / 10
RICH PRICE