Absolutely beautiful release! This is a really unique experience, and a truly admirable piece of work. Easily one of the greatest albums of the year, and my favorite Blood Incantation album!



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The experimental ambient/death combo is pretty impressive, I have to say. The soft parts are undoubtedly much better than the unremarkable heavy, but both second movements are fantastic. I don't really get the rating at all, but hey, the people have spoken.

Probably nothing I'll revisit, but certainly a good death metal album.

Wondering if we are having a new album in the top 200 after 6 years

Holy mother of a cow! This is actually a brilliant album. New metal albums rarely catch me off guard anymore, so many of them sound and feel the same one way or another. Blood Incantation are smarter than that. Between all those death metal parts there's plenty of nice ambient pieces, and it all flows perfectly. Nothing here feels done to death or boring.

Upon further listening I actually don't think that highly of the first half, the wow factor for me doesn't begin until the second half, the last two songs, particularly the closing epic, are fantastic. One thing I will say is it's unlike anything else I've heard this year. I know overall ratings aren't the most important factor but I'll admit it's very hard not to take notice of the overall rating here, but then I also remember Wintersun having a similar high score early on, and that didn't last. On the overall impression I get from other listeners though, I believe the score will remain quite high, whether it makes the top all-time 200, well we'll have to wait and see.

Written by AndyMetalFreak on 06.10.2024 at 08:20

Upon further listening I actually don't think that highly of the first half, the wow factor for me doesn't begin until the second half, the last two songs, particularly the closing epic, are fantastic.

I agree ... imo the Pink Floyd love affair with Death Metal really starts to bloom on the "the Message" songs

Written by AndyMetalFreak on 06.10.2024 at 08:20

I know overall ratings aren't the most important factor but I'll admit it's very hard not to take notice of the overall rating here, but then I also remember Wintersun having a similar high score early on, and that didn't last.

These are bloated score spammed by voterfans, and eventually it gonna dry down, but that doesn't change the fact that how BI surprised me with a new album.

As someone who doesn't listen to death metal as a genre at all: this is incredible. Consistently interesting and pleasant to listen to from start to finish. The variety is so tasteful, every part is justified. Oriental breaks are heavenly. And yes, the closer is absolutely insane. This is definitely one of the best records the genre has to offer

Written by MadHatter on 06.10.2024 at 11:27

As someone who doesn't listen to death metal as a genre at all [...] This is definitely one of the best records the genre has to offer

How would you know bro

Written by Roman Doez on 06.10.2024 at 12:39

How would you know bro

Maybe the fact that I don't listen to it doesn't mean I never tried, in my 20+ journey with heavy music? You need receipts or what?

Written by MadHatter on 06.10.2024 at 13:12

Written by Roman Doez on 06.10.2024 at 12:39

How would you know bro

Maybe the fact that I don't listen to it doesn't mean I never tried, in my 20+ journey with heavy music? You need receipts or what?

Perhaps that it's barely even death metal could be why?

Written by gavdann on 06.10.2024 at 14:17

Perhaps that it's barely even death metal could be why?

I mean, maybe. It is a blend of many things, I agree, of which death is just one. But as a blend, it's well crafted. Nile comes to mind immediately for Egyptian references and oriental stuff, but I don't know, here it's not an ornament, but parts of the overall flow. One needs balls and a solid vision to pull off something like this, imo they did it.

Written by gavdann on 06.10.2024 at 14:17

Perhaps that it's barely even death metal could be why?

By its very nature, as an amalgamation, that is kind of true. But the death metal parts still have old school death metal qualities when it comes to composition. So I wouldn't call those barely death metal.

And on a personal note, even though I find those parts of the record to be weaker, I still think they're good.

This is just the bomb! Adept for album of the year and I can't rate it any other way than 10

The second half is way better than the first for sure, but this is really good in both the death metal and space/prog rock parts and it works really well together. Not likely gonna be my aoty but still among the best I’ve heard this year and certainly my favorite death metal album I’ve heard.

Awesome new album, it starts out ominous, you know your about to hear something amazing when you hear the start of first track, but i feel like it dont unload it right away, track two builds atmosphere, after that the album really picks it up, the heavier parts have that classic DM feel, catchy riffs, awesome solo work and licks, the way this band maintains the classic death metal feel while adding the sci fi space element is awesome, for sure right up there with they're other 2 albums, this album takes what Star and Hidden did and takes it a little further, while keeping true to death metal roots.

I Was hoping we'd might get a rare 9 with this album but looks like it'll just miss the mark.

Absolutely incredible.
I like their first 2 albums a good bit but they didn't blow me away.

This blew me straight away, and I'm past thinking "death metal album of the year" and more "death metal album of the 2020s", which to me, it is thus far.

After revisiting it, I still won't change my score. In my opinion, if this band only does ambient experimental music, or only does death metal, I might give it a higher score, but they just want to combine the two in an abrupt form. I have always believed that for music, blindly stitching together various styles cannot be a necessary condition for its excellence, and paying tribute to the music styles of predecessors cannot be a political correctness for judging the quality of music. For this album, when I was immersed in the ambient parts, the sudden drum beats and guitar riffs broke everything, which killed its rhythm. Finally, this album is still not satisfactory in terms of mixing and production. Seven points is already the most respectful score I can give it. Maybe I will try their first two albums later, hoping to give me a better experience.

These guys should really say “fuck it”, drop the death metal and go full prog rock. Their non-metal material is infinitely better.

Need to properly listen to it but it seems that they do death metal -> prog/ space rock -> death metal -> prog/space rock rather than space rock+ death metal. It feels too disintegrated and not monolithic.

Bland, prog rock mixed awkwardly with death metal riffs that I feel like I have already heard. Zero cohesion. The death metal influences and sections feel like an afterthought. Overrated album. Overrated band.

Written by A Real Mönkey on 07.10.2024 at 21:35

These guys should really say “fuck it”, drop the death metal and go full prog rock. Their non-metal material is infinitely better.

Don’t be too quick to judge a change. Time and again, we've seen shifts didn't welcomed by fans. This is a solid album in its own right. Give it time to settle down with the fanbase; sometimes it’s only after the dust settles that we can truly appreciate what’s been laid down. Let’s wait and see how it shapes the band's future releases as well.

Written by mz on 08.10.2024 at 00:07

It feels too disintegrated

It seems quite a few are feeling this way and I said as much after they'd released The Stargate. I deleted my comment as I thought I'd better wait until I'd heard the full album, but I still feel the same. The space rock and death metal sections sound good in their own right, but it doesn't feel cohesive to me.

There is a lovely Meddle era Pink Floyd sounding guitar solo in (I think) Tablet I of The Stargate. It suddenly switches back to the death metal, but it sounds like it's been cut & pasted from tape rather than having a natural live feel.

I can understand arguments that the two extremes of their sound rarely co-exist, in that it's either a death metal passage or a space rock/prog/ambient part, and it would be intriguing to see them attempt to find a way for both to occur simultaneously in some manner (if it's even possible to do in an interesting way for some bits), but I personally feel that the transitions between the sections are by and large really well done - that new age-style bit towards the beginning of The Message [Tablet III] sounds very different to what comes right before and after, but the way it transitions from one extreme to the other and back is more natural and gradual than I could imagine most bands being able to do

some transitions are well made, like the second track, while on others it's mostly inexistent (first track). a more gradual cresdendo or the opposite, sort of like Inner Paths, would have made this even better.
it's an excellent record anyway, top-notch death metal and very pleasant ambient/prog.

I feel that they suffer from an "inverse opeth" problem. They should just drop the heavier part and make great space rock.

AOTY is here

It has entered the Top 200 now, at rank 143 currently.

Glad to have some fresh stuff in the top 200, hope it manages to stay in there