Album review: Blood Incantation – Timewave Zero

Blood Incantation truly hit the nail smack on the head with their previous two albums Starspawn and Hidden History Of The Human Race. Accordingly, they’ve enjoyed an accelerated rate of success that most technical death metal bands rarely ever get even a sniff at. While some may accuse them of leaning on their notoriety to tear up the rulebook and do whatever they feel like here, that simply isn’t the case. Ambience, atmospherics and cosmic soundscapes have always dwelled at the core of everything they put out.

Timewave Zero strips away the guttural vocals, squealing riffs and percussive battery to lay bare the foundations of their sound. It’s a bold move that will likely alienate (no pun intended) a large portion of their fanbase, but their bravery must be commended.

If you’ve ever popped on Blade Runner, nodded off and woken up to the DVD menu screen playing idly in the background, then this is a record that will already sound familiar. It’s the ideal accompaniment to a cinematic science fiction escapade or even an outer space shoot-’em-up game, but as a standalone piece of music it leaves a lot to be desired.

The two lengthy tracks sound huge, but they continuously feel like they're building towards a climax that they never quite reach. Blood Incantation have definitely achieved what they set out to accomplish and it’s by no means executed poorly, it’s just lacking the instantaneous spark that their previous two releases encompassed. Fingers crossed now that the band’s need for experimentation has been fulfilled, album number four will be back to business as usual.

Verdict: 2/5

For fans of: John Carpenter, the Blade Runner soundtrack

Timewave Zero is released on February 25 via Century Media