“Above the sands of time its shadow is cast again, the monolith returns demanding passage.”
Against the harsh vacuum of space’s infinite depths the name Blood Incantation echoes through unphased and uninterrupted, as does their charismatic cosmic cacophony against a 2000 capacity venue brimming with ballistic beardos and cross-armed critics alike. For those that happened to miss this year’s Incineration Festival, this was ultimately your calling as the band vowed to return, with none other than blackened-psyche-Fins Oranssi Pazuzu and Germanic-Basque Death-Thrash combo-meal Sijjin at their side as an insurance policy for an evening almost too good to be true for lovers of the the proggy, the trippy and the silly.
Words by Jack Crosby-Griggs, photography by Kieran White – contact Kieran before any use.
Sijjin
Limber-up duty for the night was handed off to Sijjin and you just know you’re in for some peak thrash metal when the axe-wielders waltz on out with guitars shaped like they’d be better off bludgeoning a woolly mammoth to death rather than serenading it. If this didn’t immediately give the game away, ‘chances are that the face-melting powerchord riffage and rip-roaring guitar solos more than likely did as the thunderous three-piece transported the Shepherd’s Bush Empire crowd all the way back in time to the heights of the denim-clad, walkman-wielding genre. The ol’ reliable d-beat tightly lined their set and paved the way for grizzly gallops, booming growls and even a cheeky bass-solo to blow one’s jocks off once and for all. Perhaps not as theatrical as one may expect from an Absolute Elsewhere-era opener slot, but evidently: when riffs talk, prog and metalheads listen – especially given the fact that members of the head(lining) honchos themselves could be observed enthusiastically jamming out from the balcony, so they’re clearly doing something right!
Oranssi Pazuzu
Even prior to the kick-off of the next set, it was evident that something peculiar was afoot. The house tunes that previously provided respite from the harsh ambience quickly took an unprecedented turn of the trap-hop horrorcore variety, smoke machines were evidently doing overtime in blanketing the stage with a viscous fog made all the more ominous by midnight blue lighting and it would appear that the crew were wheeling out not one, not two but three keyboard setups across the expanse of the stage. The answer to this riddle (of which went on to sprout additional questions almost exclusively throughout the evening) was ofcourse the elusive Oranssi Pazuzu, who appeared subtle right up until the very moment they began playing. A single, rapidly accelerating keystroke acts as the assemblage’s only warning before a tidal-wave of harsh noise bitterly engulfs the room – an everlasting battle of histrionics against anti-dramatics playing out onstage as if the band were actively antagonising themselves by virtue of their own nihilistic presence.
Truthfully, ‘psychedelic black metal’ almost seems like too narrow of a label for an outfit with sheer presence as mystifying as what was on display here, though I simultaneously struggle to materialise anything even close to adequate of such paralysing, genre-bending sensory overload. It’s an often thrown-about sentiment in online spaces that specific instances of media hold the ability to terminate a victorian-era child through sheer intensity alone; And after forty-five minutes of stewing dark ambience preceding spasmodic eruption into a myriad of stylistic outbursts, I can confidently subscribe to the idea that this band possesses this quality in droves. The aforementioned excess of keys rightfully carried more than their fair-share of the heavy lifting through earnestly beautiful accompaniment in conjunction with frightful stabs, hypnotic droning and synthetic bleeps and bloops that were additionally divvied up amongst the three bodies somehow juggling all this and more. Despite this, nothing could possibly distract from the vocal and string sections, both of which dominated the hour with their delightfully ghoulish, oppressive and occasionally unhinged performance.
Another wonderfully bold choice considering the primary focus of the tour; And ultimately one that I very much hope was well-appreciated by its audiences, for those seeking deeper and fresher musical thrills this may-well be your next obsession. With this said, however: my heart goes out to those in attendance who pre-emptively indulged in a substance or two during this particular set, no-doubt in anticipation of Blood Incantation’s far-out influence – I can only assume that your trip was nothing short of nightmarish and you did not, in-fact, have a nice fall.
Blood Incantation
Nerds and riff-enthusiasts alike rejoiced, for the time was finally nigh and the moment utterly perfect – with the venue’s breathtakingly grandiose Edwardian interior expertly bouncing off of the theatrically cosmic stage setup that the band has been sporting for a majority of their Absolute Elsewhere related romps, every minute detail felt just right. Two alien obelisks border the stage, having laid dormant since doors but abruptly springing to life and visibly pulsating at the advent of the headliner’s arrival. As one can imagine on this ‘Absolute Elsetour’, featuring a heavy emphasis on Absolute Elsewhere promo, Absolute Elsewhere visuals and presumably Absolute Elsewhere material – the primary directive of the set was bringing Absolute Elsewhere (That’s right! All two songs!) to UK stages in full for the first time since… well, this year’s Incineration Festival; But wait, there’s more! We were also treated to a fine selection of further glorious incantations from the band’s bloodier past including but not limited to “The Giza Power Plant” and “Obliquity of the Ecliptic” serving as the bile-soaked cherry on top of an already highly-stimulating holistic experience.
Even sans Incineration’s accompanying CGI background visuals, this held little bearing on the intoxicating and unwavering atmosphere brought to life by visceral lighting, huge riffs and Floyd-worship like an elaborate stage-play of War Of The Worlds told exclusively through guitar-licks and Peter Gabriel-esque hairlines. Not to imply there was any shortage of hair flying free, however – as to be expected on a night like this, the room-pervading, all-consuming vastness that is Blood Incantation’s space-death resonance is the only cure for an immobile crowd, ceasing only briefly to request the “flipping of the record” from said congregation, commencing the transition from “The Stargate” into “The Message”. In lieu of rampant stage antics and choreographed convulsion, meticulous discipline and attention to detail evidently seeped from each stoic showman, clearly heavily favouring a confident and true to form representation of their art that speaks for itself over any unnecessary overcompensation.
Given this dedication to sounding as tight as (in)humanly possible, one can imagine just how easy of a feat it was to find themselves lost amongst the waves of an already entrancing record like Absolute Elsewhere, now amplified by a live setting as it floats seamlessly between golden-age death and seventies prog-rock. Not to mention the additional live synthwork of touring member John Gamiño providing a supplementary layer of authenticity to tracks both lengthy and brief (but mostly lengthy). Even a quick glance through the telescope at this bold and uncompromised vision inspires thought of just where Blood Incantation will go next from here: this latest record has catapulted them to astronomical heights and if these headlining dates are indicative of what can feasibly be conjured up at this stage, then the sky may not even be the limit for this particular death-space-rock-opera if the allocated budget allows for it.
Be sure to check out our review of the latest Blood Incantation record Absolute Elsewhere. Blood Incantation will be bringing the Absolute Elsetour Part II to Australia, New Zealand and the United States later this year, check out their dates here.