ALBUM REVIEW: Timewave Zero – Blood Incantation

With their second full-length Hidden History Of The Human Race, Denver’s BLOOD INCANTATION quickly became a household name – at least, by the standards of contemporary death metal. Their debut full-length Starspawn captured the imagination of the metal underground, which was as hungry for a traditional death metal sound as it was for classic sci-fi themes.

BLOOD INCANTATION have never been just another nostalgia act though; far from it. Their complex and progressive style is a refreshing addition to a genre where knuckle-dragging, confrontational riffing predominates, with the quartet introducing unusual dynamics and cosmic atmospheres to their lengthy compositions. As far back as the Interdimensional Extinction EP the band have used synthesisers to enhance the sensory onslaught they create, and with Timewave Zero, BLOOD INCANTATION have explored the boundless depths of their electronic instruments.

Extreme metal musicians playing around with synthesisers is nothing new. For instance, the inimitable Fenriz of DARKTHRONE released two dark ambient albums in the mid-90s under the name NEPTUNE TOWERS, and die-hard fans of BLOOD INCANTATION will be well aware that vocalist and guitarist Paul Riedl is something of a synthesiser enthusiast himself, to put it mildly. Just last year he released a trio of ‘Ambient Mixtapes’: “improvised and primitively recorded” drone/ambient/noise tracks which (if we’re being honest) are probably only interesting to other synthesiser nerds. All the same, it was interesting to see that BLOOD INCANTATION’s use of electronic instruments was far from a superficial attempt to generate cosmic atmospheres on the cheap. Now Timewave Zero is not an electronic album in the purest sense (you can hear a small amount of acoustic guitar played on second track Ea) but it is definitely not the progressive death metal album many will have been expecting.

There is probably too much going on musically in Timewave Zero to call it truly minimalist, but it is assuredly ambient from start to finish. Occasional moments of drama push the record towards a sci-fi soundtrack sort of vibe, but more 2001: A Space Odyssey than Alien. The title itself is taken from a piece of software which was inspired by the theories of “ethnobotanist and mystic” Terrence McKenna, but if you’re looking for the real inspiration behind Timewave Zero, then look no further than TANGERINE DREAM’s second album Alpha Centauri, which passed its half-centennial milestone last year. Widely considered one of the wellsprings of Kosmische Musik, the scene from which KRAFTWERK, NEU! and CAN would emerge, you can hear the echoes of that iconic album 50 years later on BLOOD INCANTATION’s little experiment very loudly indeed.

We don’t mean to detract from the band’s achievements here. Timewave Zero is a very pleasant and meticulously crafted experience indeed, but it also strikes us as more of a tribute to a traditional style than an attempt to elaborate on it. It has been executed with the utmost affection, and BLOOD INCANTATION’s throngs of psychonautical fans will certainly enjoy the trip, but even the most committed of their audience will struggle to get excited about this album.

Side-projects are best left as side-projects, so whether this is a cynical attempt to shift more units under the BLOOD INCANTATION name, or a genuine effort to introduce their more conservative fans to the subtle pleasures of analogue synthesis, we’ll leave to you to decide. All the same, the fact remains: there are already plenty of credible ambient electronic projects out there to explore, and nowhere near enough progressive death metal bands producing fantastic albums in the vein of Starspawn and Hidden History Of The Human Race, so as much as we were ready to entertain this little experiment, no amount of open-mindedness was going to curb our disappointment with Timewave Zero.

Rating: 6/10

Timewave Zero is out now via Century Media Records.

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