- Ah, the much dreaded sophomore album is now upon Colorado’s Blood Incantation. We’re now three years removed from the triumphant proclamation of Starspawn. To follow an album that drew such critical praise with one that consists of a scant four-song track listing begs curiosity. Listening to the record itself, curiosity becomes puzzlement, then frustration and finally: mystification. Such a mystery is not one to be solved –in keeping with the astounding album cover– you can only accept and marvel at what’s in front of you. Hidden History of the Human Race mimics the movements of its subject matter. It does so through a sprawling explosion of death metal’s best tropes, finessed with both perplexing technical prowess and an elevated cosmic perspective. The sheer amount they fit into these songs is dizzying and leaves heads to be scratched; but Anunnaki, damn it, I will continually return to this mystery, amazed, like a filthy mark at a circus.
Any uncertainty of what is to come on Blood Incantation's second effort is quickly and concisely dispelled by the winding trek of Slave Species of The Gods. Launching off with a percussive pummel from all sides as the bawling guitars jerks rush ahead. It grows into a battering gallop of thrashed instruments and vocals gurgling piss and vinegar. Blood Incantation are as expansive in their technical savagery as they are with their emphatic, fretboard fireworks. Every movement on the opener juxtaposes what comes before it. The hammering, headlong course is exposed to blistering guitar intervals of which the most flamboyant passes the torch. The Giza Power Plant speeds off in a similar direction as what comes before, but only for the first stretch. An ominous tone rumbles away through the jerked palette and with repeated listens and some internet searches, you notice Jeff Barrett’s fretless bass bluntly attacking its way through a busy mix. Another display of stringed sorcery transitions from the hurried and slapdash to a weightless meditation. The notes invoke and continue to establish an astral illusion that melts through this project. By swapping out ruthless aggression for some sonic world building, these four tracks transcend individual clarity into a watertight composition of ugly art. The project then takes on an extended, pensive mood with Inner Paths (To Outer Space). Building greatly on Giza’s budding soundscape, it inhabits the ethereal space with an exploratory confidence. It returns to skull caving riffs that bring it to a close, at the same time heralding the final, gargantuan leg. The last song is as long as its title is a mouthful. It’s a monolithic way to close out an album that feels like a living, breathing being. Awakening From The Dream Of Existence To The Multidimensional Nature Of Our Reality (Mirror Of The Soul) revisits all the plot points that have been revealed thus far on its return home, like some kind of alien reading of Don Quixote de la Mancha. This last stand whips between the deluge of instruments and the sombre reflections before departing, leaving only a morose itch in its wake, one that can be appeased for short periods by undertaking the whole trek again and again.
Hidden History of The Human Race worships at the altar of the unknown -or at the very least, at the altar of some primordial deities- and it shows. This ain’t your cargo shorts wearing death metal record. It’s a universal, near sacred message being explored through compositions that transmute the complex narrative. Strap yourself in, budding young space cadet. You’re off for a reality shifting listen!
- Matt Lynch.