BLOOD INCANTATION: LIVE AT THE BOULDER THEATER, OCTOBER 4, 2024

(Denver-based NCS writer Gonzo had the good fortune of seeing Blood Incantation perform in Denver on the day of their newest album’s release, preceded by the solo set of Steve Roach, and he’s given us the following show review. We’re also grateful to Denver photographer Jacob Juno for allowing us to use his photos from the show throughout this article.)

Hype is a helluva drug.

And perhaps no band in modern metal is aware of that statement the way Denver’s Blood Incantation are. Their 2019 opus Hidden History of the Human Race was released to a cacophony of effusive praise from every dark corner of the internet, catapulting the band into interdimensional stardom.

Fast forward to 2024. The past five years have seen Blood Incantation’s career become anything but predictable. There are probably fewer words that haven’t been used to describe Timewave Zero than those that have, and the Luminescent Bridge single was a nice surprise that left many (myself included) wanting more.

It felt like a culmination of all of this, then, to have the band play a special one-night-only headlining set at the foot of the Rocky Mountains last week. And to properly commemorate the release of Absolute Elsewhere, they even brought along the king of ambient sound himself, Steve Roach, to open the proceedings.

What followed was a night nobody in the Boulder Theater would soon forget.

 I’d never seen Steve Roach play a live set before. In my experience, ambient sound on a live stage can either send your brain to meet the machine elves or put you in a coma. Seeing that Roach himself is the OG mastermind of making trippy sounds into an otherworldly orchestration, my curiosity was piqued.

Not only did Roach deliver, but his set – a true exercise in atavistic mastery – may have been the most captivating ambient set I’ve ever seen. The way he can turn a simple stage setup into one of the most breathtakingly weird but beautiful things you’ve ever heard is without equal. His electronic equipment was a series of esoteric wires and lights and dials, all coalescing into something greater than the sum of its parts, and he somehow blended this with wind instruments. The sounds were as haunting as they were fascinating, as chilling as they were uplifting, and by the end, I didn’t even realize an entire hour had gone by.

I had never seen anything like it. For most death metal bands, an opener like Steve Roach would’ve been out of place. And somehow, this coronation was the perfect setup for Blood Incantation.

 

Given that Absolute Elsewhere had been released this same day and frontman/guitarist Paul Riedl’s flair for detail, I expected tonight’s set would be a full playthrough of the album with an encore set. I was mostly right.

After a long set change – which somehow felt like an exercise in atmospheric buildup by itself – it was finally time for Blood Incantation to properly indoctrinate us with Absolute Elsewhere. Confirming my belief that the album would be played all the way through, Paul Riedl & co. spoke hardly a word other than “check” into the mic before blasting straight into “The Stargate [Tablet I].” Even by itself, this track is a hulking behemoth that dares to go places most death metal is unwilling – or unable – to go. It begins with a pummeling for the ages; blast beats firing on all cylinders with kit man Isaac Faulk expertly paving the way. Then, much like the second stage of an acid frenzy, after the frantic wild-eyed euphoria subsides, the psychedelia sets in.

I had wondered how this would all sound on a live stage. Creatively, I don’t think there are a whole lot of bands that can hang with Blood Incantation right now. Their deft ability to shift between entire genres through the course of one song is impressive enough, but would this all be just a dry run of sorts before they embark on two massive tours in 2025?

No. Quite simply, fucking no. The material throughout Elsewhere was as polished and tight as anything else they’ve ever played on a live stage. It wouldn’t have mattered if this album had come out this same day or a year ago – the band handled every song no differently.

Some people, as Andy Synn mentioned in his top-shelf review of Elsewhere earlier this month – have bemoaned the album’s “lack of riffs” for some reason, which I think is a hilariously shortsighted critique. When the monstrous Morbid Angel-esque riffage hits about halfway through “The Stargate [Tablet III],” my entire body seemed to be swept up into some alternate universe where naysayers don’t exist. At that moment, I couldn’t imagine a reality where any metalhead wouldn’t be enjoying this.

One of the most insane transitions I’ve heard in any album all year is the one you hear from “The Message [Tablet I]” to [Tablet II]. It’s everything everywhere all at once – in one moment, it’s death metal at its most primal and savage, and then gives way to a prog interlude that sounds like King Crimson or early Dream Theater. And that’s just the first minute.

What really separates Blood Incantation from so many imitators in 2024 is just that. Their transitions are a masterclass in songwriting. The interlude of “The Message [Tablet II]” sounds like a page from the David Gilmour/Roger Waters playbook of old, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard music in that style done as well since. That’s not an exaggeration.

As the band was dramatically wrapping up the intense close of their newest album, the only question remaining was what they’d choose as their encore set.

Turns out, after Riedl gave a soft-spoken thank-you to everyone in attendance that evening, it would be “Obliquity of the Ecliptic.” And sadly, that would be the last song of the evening.

But at just under nine minutes, it felt more complete than what most other bands would do throughout a full encore set. The song is just one of the many reasons why Blood Incantation is ignoring all the rules and blazing a path that others are destined to follow for years – even decades – to come.

It’s a privilege to live in a city where I’m constantly surrounded by the best heavy music in North America, and with bands like Blood Incantation rewriting what death metal can and can’t sound like right before our eyes, it feels like Denver is the epicenter for all of it. Nights like October 4 at the Boulder Theater don’t come often. The stage has been set for metal’s next wave, and Blood Incantation is planting their freak flag in whatever uncharted territory comes next.