ALBUM REVIEW: All Gates Open (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) – Blood Incantation
With their last album Absolute Elsewhere, BLOOD INCANTATION gained well deserved plaudits across the board, including more mainstream media outlets, maybe previously unimaginable for a band who at their heart are still death metal through and through, and this is all due to their musical skills of course, but also their forward thinking nature, something that has bolstered their ascent tremendously.
The album is a spellbinding masterpiece and now, 18 months after the release of Absolute Elsewhere, BLOOD INCANTATION have delivered All Gates Open (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), the soundtrack to a documentary that chronicles the making of the album but it also acts as its own entity with four tracks of original music for fans to immerse themselves in. Having previously been available on a special edition of Absolute Elsewhere, the documentary and the music that subsequently soundtracks it are now coming out on their own. The release gives more people a chance to experience even more Absolute Elsewhere history, and with the album, the documentary and this soundtrack all put together, it is a fascinating insight into the world of BLOOD INCANTATION.
In regards to the music, All Gates Open (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) consists of four synth led soundscapes that make up this soundtrack, and they are so full of epic grandeur that it makes you feel that there are even more. Such is the epic journey that the music takes you on, and while it is the soundtrack to the documentary, it will also act as the soundtrack to important moments for people the world over.
The soundtrack begins with the vast, beautiful and delicate Balance which freely grows until it reaches a pulsating climax before the initially brooding Flight morphs into something more spacious and warm, and as it nears its end, turns into something completely sublime. The organ led and celestial Dawn follows before the hazy and moving conclusion of final piece Rain proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that BLOOD INCANTATION could score anything they wanted, especially when such a grand nature of cinematic quality is executed here.
As with the album that it soundtracks the making of, All Gates Open (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) has a huge progressive rock influence with bands like TANGERINE DREAM (whose member Thorsten Quaeschning appears on Absolute Elsewhere track The Stargate [Tablet II]), CAN (of which there is a biography of the band entitled All Gates Open) and KING CRIMSON (whose drummer Bill Bruford was in a band named Absolute Elsewhere) all being an influence on the band, Absolute Elsewhere, and this soundtrack. But with this soundtrack, BLOOD INCANTATION do their own thing, their own way and the results are nothing short of spectacular.
As a collection of music, All Gates Open (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) truly does stand on its own, but when combined with Absolute Elsewhere and its creation, it takes on an extra dimension and turns into something even more special, and is a truly brilliant way to conclude what BLOOD INCANTATION started with the original album. So let the All Gates Open soundtrack immerse your spirit and don’t forget to get that insight into Absolute Elsewhere with the must see documentary as well, screening in London on May 29th.
Rating: 8/10
All Gates Open (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is set for release on June 5th via Century Media.
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