Blood Incantation

Blood Incantation formed in Denver during 2011 and built a death metal foundation that they laced with psychedelic, ambient, and exploratory elements. Critical praise arrived with the 2016 debut Starspawn and continued through the 2019 release Hidden History of the Human Race. The quartet explored a different direction on their first ambient recording, 2022’s Timewave Zero, before folding cosmic, progressive, and space rock textures into the expansive 2024 album Absolute Elsewhere.

Vocalist and guitarist Paul Riedl, guitarist Morris Kolontyrsky, drummer Isaac Faulk, and bassist Jeff Barrett shaped the band’s early sound through three demo recordings that featured caustic riffage, eerie psychedelic touches, precise technical execution, and themes centered on space and mortality. Before issuing their 2015 debut EP Interdimensional Extinction, the group collaborated with fellow Colorado outfit Spectral Voice on a split 7". Dark Descent Records released Starspawn, which earned widespread notice from online outlets, and the 2018 concert EP Live Vitrification followed, presenting the nineteen-minute track “The Vitrification of Blood” alongside an untitled ambient composition.

The 2019 follow-up Hidden History of the Human Race garnered even stronger acclaim than its predecessor, earning a spot in Pitchfork’s list of the year’s fifty best albums. After signing with Century Media, the label handled 2021 reissues of the debut EP and the first two full-lengths. Timewave Zero surfaced in 2022 as a cinematic dark ambient statement, while the two-song EP Luminescent Bridge arrived the next year. Absolute Elsewhere, issued in 2024, comprises two extended pieces subdivided into three “tablets” apiece and features a guest appearance by Tangerine Dream’s Thorsten Quaeschning; the record further develops the band’s existing Krautrock and progressive rock leanings.