Timewave Zero

Timewave Zero was met with an understandably divisive reaction as it went on to more fully explore Blood Incantation's ambient influences, which to this point had only been manifest in parts of a few instrumentals or interludes on their albums. To an extent, I can sympathize with the naysayers...the logo is the same, and it's such a massive shift that it might as well be another band entirely, but it's not as if this was the first time in history some extreme metal acts took 180 turns. Hell, look at Beherit or Burzum, or many others who embarked on ambient or electronic or dungeon synth paths away from the blasting and growling. I'm all for bands evolving, in fact some of my favorites like Enslaved or Voivod have made careers of it, but this could certainly be seen as a bridge too far...

Fortunately, Timewave Zero is quite good. 2-3 epic length ambient tracks, (depending on which version you've acquired), moody and mesmerizing, and at the very least, featuring contributions from all the death metal band members. So even though this might come off as a vanity project that extends the earlier hints of this style, it's all hands on deck as they surf further along the radiance of quasars and emptiness of the vacuum between worlds. The textures are obvious but also subtle, with a couple different synth-lines layered together, some repetitious and others more celestial and spacious, but it's mostly quite smoothed-over, you don't get into the abrasive droning or noisy sounds that a lot of darker ambient projects explore, at least not in "Io" or "Ea". As most you feel the atmosphere of alien worlds through a few sweltering crescendos of what might feel like colossal elder beings stretching their galaxy-wide limb, or really a cinematic feel that will trigger nostalgia for old sci fi films in which the synthesizer-based composers really earned their scratch.

There's also a little touch of acoustic guitar deep into the experience which is a nice bridge back to the familiar, and this is perhaps my favorite part, when the little synths play off against this. If you've got the version with "Chronophagia", this is a much darker, improvised and longer tune where a lot of those more droning aspects come into effect, with some moody synth lines out in the astral murk that really impress as another of the highlight. My CD copy does not have this track and it kind of pisses me off, I didn't do my research but I HIGHLY recommend you get that version with the CD + Blu Ray or the multiple records, because it definitely adds a lot of value to the release and then it really becomes more of a full-length than an EP as the band states.

Now, admittedly I don't have a ton of knowledge when it comes to this genre...I do have hundreds of ambient, dark ambient, New Age, dungeon synth, space synth and other releases digitally, and also a bunch in physical form. I love the stuff. I dig my Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Jean-Michael Jarre, Fenriz' Neptune Towers, and many more, but I don't know that I can precisely pinpoint the influences that Riedl and company most lean on for this. But it's clearly fluent in that spacey style, immersive and just as easy to get lost in as any of their death metal material, though I think this is obviously a lot simpler and probably easier to put together. I think it would work better as a spin-off, or perhaps integrated into their heavier side, but ultimately what matters is the quality of what's on the disc, and this is enjoyable if not revolutionary for its style.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

“Timewave Zero” was a very confusing output by Blood Incantation at first for me. I was expecting a clear continuation of “Hidden History of the Human Race”, but instead I was greeted with a very different release. A 41-minute pure ambient album with no traces of death metal, which at first was disappointing to me. And I kinda put off listening to it for a while, but after some time, I got my head out of my ass and listened to it. And I’m glad I did considering I’m a big fan of ambient genres such as Dungeon Synth and Vaporwave to name a few. So I should’ve listened to it when it came out because it’s a very relaxing and mesmerizing experience.

This EP is filled with very simple and cosmic elements. The compositions are very simple but extremely layered, creating a very interesting and relaxing atmosphere. Over time elements get added in as time goes on, drowning you in its overall feel and flow. It sounds and feels incredibly satisfying and soothing to me, which is why I love ambient music. I can put it on and slowly drift off to sleep without any issues whatsoever when I go to sleep without anything playing in the background.

The two songs “Io” and “Ea” contain and combine many different dissonant notes and synthesizers. Displaying a very simplistic yet incredibly layered and effective flow. It can be dense and rough at times and then it can be very soothing and beautiful. Which is a good overall balance and contrast between many different sounds and elements being thrown into the mix.

“Io” starts off very droney with almost a rumbling synthesizer. Embracing you in its rough edges and atmospheric composition, this and “Ea” does a fantastic job of pacing creating the atmosphere, and keeping the flow consistent. Over the course of “Io”, more elements and new synthesizers get thrown into the background. They began showing ambient elements in previous recordings, but this is where it’s at its most fleshed out and abrasive. Allowing Blood Incantation to have free access to make what they desired, and that is a jam-packed ambient recording that many ambient fans will love. The cosmic and very spacy atmosphere is always in the blood of the band, but this is where it really gets to shine. With each song being around the 18-21 minute mark everything feels perfect, nothing sounds rushed and everything seems to happen on its own. Making everything seem natural and beautiful.

“Ea” rather than starting off abrasive starts off with a more relaxed and confident atmosphere. Having very soft and relaxed moments that flow from sound to sound incredibly well. It’s a very relaxed and satisfying listen whenever I need something to listen to when I’m ready for bed. The music also changes up really well, it doesn’t happen that often but when it does it sounds good. Like it’s meant to happen to further progress the song and the ambiance.

Repetition is a big thing in ambient music, allowing the listener to fully embrace and emerge themselves into the atmosphere the composers are creating and conveying. Drowning you in their work and compositions that can be ethereal or very dark, overall it’s right up my alley. The music presented here is very unique and different than what we’ve heard Blood Incantation do in the past. It’s very different and somber as well as beautiful. Blood Incantation fired off on all cylinders in this ambient EP and created another great record. It never loses momentum and flows really well.

Overall this is not as bad as people are making it out to be. While I will always prefer the death metal Blood Incantation and I hope they will continue on that path. I won’t mind hearing a full ambient album every now and then. It’s definitely something to listen to if you’re an ambient listener, or just something looking for background music while going to bed. If you’re looking for something different than the usual death metal music Blood Incantation has been putting out I highly recommend this. A very good and interesting piece by Blood Incantation. Great stuff.

There is a saying that appetite increases with eating. Apparently so, although the Americans from Blood Incantation had a different idea for another hit after such a good album as "Hidden History Of The Human Race". After 3 years of releasing silence, Paul Riedl's band decided to release...a space ambient ep, which has practically nothing to do with death metal sounds! So it's not surprising that a large criticism came out on "Timewave Zero" at any moment. The Americans completely deviated from the previously chosen style, venturing into the regions of Tangerine Dream and discarding the components from which they achieved success in such a short time.

Ironically, "Timewave Zero" trumps the band's regular material in volume. In fact, the basic version of the album itself lasts 40 minutes, i.e. longer than the previous two full-lengths! And even if it's a one-time outburst, it's not surprising in such a situation that its cold reception compared to previous releases. "Timewave Zero" is an interesting journey through cosmic sounds, making good use of non-metal means, but not necessarily in line with the band name under which it was released - I guarantee you that any other name would immediately make "Timewave..." not arouse major disappointments. Both tracks that make up this ep are really ethereal, perfect for relaxing and stretching the imagination, although quite airy and very slowly building up to the climax (which also does not strike with any twist). "Io" slowly introduces you into the vortex of cosmic chaos, and "Ea" right after soothes with its melancholy melody and almost cinematic realization of traveling through space. Interestingly, the bonus version has one more track - a 27-minute long "Chronophagia". This one, in turn, is more like the lost DarkSpace soundtrack.

So you can see that "Timewave Zero" did not deserve such mixed reviews. Well, the main problem of this ep lies in the very high level of previous albums and its total difference. Yes, it's good to listen to, but for a band that has already caused huge hype to the extreme scene so much, "Timewave..." seems to be a much less exciting album. First of all, it lacks the balance of their normal albums, where death metal blended perfectly between cinematic ambients. Here only the latter remained, and not always as attractive as before.

Originally on A bit of subjectivism...in metal

I first wrote this review as part of a column I do in Metalegion, which is called "Be Quick or Be Doomed". If it's not clear, that was designed as a convenient way to write a few brief summaries for albums that don't fit into the general review section, and those summaries are split into a "Quick" and a "Doomed" section, usually referring to genres like heavy/speed/power/thrash for the former and doom/stoner/sludge/drone for the latter. So what were current cosmic death metal poster boys Blood Incantation doing in the "Doomed" section? Well, because it’s possible to interpret the release of a 41 minute ambient experiment as the doom of such an act, and had the Americans not labelled Timewave Zero an EP, that would likely be the case. Seeing as songs like 'Awakening from the Dream of Existence...' already pushed 20 minutes for the band, I can imagine some fans may have been fooled into thinking they had gone the whole hog with the progressive death style, and those fans will be very pissed off at first. However, carefully constructing 2 long tracks in the manner of Tangerine Dream’s synth adventures or Dead Can Dance’s otherworldly soundscapes, Blood Incantation successfully manage to distil the essence of drifting among uncanny celestial bodies. The pulsing ‘Io’ feels more dynamic than ‘Ea’, even if both are peacefully reflective and galaxies away from death metal.

Releases like this often provide vast problems in terms of acceptance and analysis, firstly because Timewave Zero thoroughly abandons the band's signature style, but also because the content is extremely sparse, to the degree that taking a mere overview of the listen would almost encourage the comment that "nothing happens". Indeed, 'Io' takes around 8 minutes to get into its full movement, while even the fade-in had me wondering at first whether the volume was turned off. Much of the listen melds delicate synth and electronic effects with a few spidery instances of guitar, so that the sounds grow and layer very subtly, using as long as necessary or, as some might argue, too long to develop through each movement. We do not appear to travel, but rather drift through the acoustic depths of the EP, much as though punted into outer space and forgotten for the rest of time. The effect proves profound though, soothing with smooth tones and long loops while the listener is left to look for meaning inside, rather than from the presentation of such meaning by Blood Incantation.

That leaves me time to dwell on a peculiarity of Timewave Zero contained in its track names: I first assumed that Ea was a moon like Io, which orbits Jupiter and is the most volcanically active body in our solar system, yet on searching for more information I found no such obvious answer for what 'Ea' refers to (a lot of search results for EA Games proved very annoying). At best guess, it could refer to David Zindell's sci-fi world from The Ea Cycle series, Eä the "material world" in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth, or maybe even "exa-annum", which essentially means a year but subject to the orbiting cycles of the place in question (i.e. a Venusian year or a Martian year). I consider the first explanation to be much the more likely, especially considering how Zindell's work deals with the evolution of consciousness, a theme that Blood Incantation went deep into for their last full-length, though I wouldn't rule out a connection with Mortiis (and by proxy Tolkien) when the track 'Ea' hints at his early '90s output through use of some very nostalgic and mysterious synth/organ tones in the middle part. The simplicity of both titles struck me especially hard though, since what else sums up such a gentle, drifting release as 2 names without vowels? If that feature is deliberate, Blood Incantation have understood very well how their experiment should be encompassing yet translucent at the same time, while if (as is likely) 'Io' and 'Ea' are the names of 2 strange worlds, they have done just as well to lead us on a faraway experience. Death metal fans need not bother, but Timewave Zero offers plenty for the curious wanderer.


Originally written in edited form for Metalegion #11 - www.metalegion.com

Brian Eno once described "ambient music" as music that augments an environment rather than be an active listening experience. This idea has its roots as far back as Erik Satie's "furniture music" - music as dressing for the room. While some ambient might be more driving than others - like the techno of Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works 85-92 or Gas's entire discography - the idea remains that ambient music isn't exactly meant to be a fist-pumping venture. If anything, listening to ambient with the expectation of major developments or contemporary song structure is inviting disappointment.

In this sense, Timewave Zero is successful. This album contains two long-form tracks built up into four "movements" each, inviting a longer, headier appraisal. Both have a lot in common with Berlin School electronica, a movement mostly aligned with the 60s and 70s in which German electronic musicians developed sprawling electronic soundscapes and experimented with burgeoning synthesizer/sampling technology. Timewave Zero isn't electronica like Autechre or Aphex Twin; it's more of the darker sci-fi ambient of Tangerine Dream. In fact, the "Io" track reminds me a lot of Tangerine Dream's "Phaedra" off the same-titled album.

Each movement is defined by a distinct riff in the literal definition of the word "riff" as a repeated musical motif. It's pretty simplistic, again serving more as background listening than straight-up focused songcraft. The first movement of "Ea" shows that best, with no real rise or fall other than the backing synthesizers working through different chords. The third movement of "Io" has a slow keyboard arpeggio that would be perfectly at home in a planetarium. All aspects are underscored by an organic sound to the synthesizers that emphasizes the 70s sci-fi feel.

It's easy to dislike Timewave Zero. I certainly wouldn't want to go to a Blood Incantation set hoping to hear ambient music. But in context of the band's big-brain-alien discography, I think it fits right in with the rest of their music. Perhaps it shouldn't have been marketed as strongly as their LPs; perhaps Blood Incantation should've been more careful with their sardonic humor in "that" interview; and perhaps the band leaned into ambient too much in their shows, making fans wonder if their tickets were a crapshoot. It's an album that kind of conspired against itself.

Timewave Zero is a perfectly cromulent ambient release that accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do, nothing more and nothing less. Listen to it when reading a book - this and the ambient track from Burzum's Filosofem are perfect for that.

At first I wasn't convinced to review this release, my experience with the musical genres developed here are rather small, so I thought that since my knowledge is limited, I wouldn't be able to contribute much. In part I still think the same but I also think that I shouldn't limit my opinion of an individual piece of music based on my experience or not with the genres of space ambient and the Berlin school, of course a better notion of the style would help me to dissect the work better, but being after all a subjective evaluation and a musical description I think I can say things that even if for some are insubstantial, they can help someone who has a bigger lack of knowledge than mine in this musical field.

As I have already said maybe for people who have more experience in this genre this is a release that has not much to offer, or maybe even mediocre, but to be honest it has fascinated me, the way "Io" starts and how fast it immerses you in its universe seems captivating, I also love that it starts in an ominous way but very little by little, adding elements in a very soft way but without stopping progressing in the composition, so that when you want to realize what you are listening to is far away from how the song started, I know this is something very classic of this style of music, where it all feels like a journey, I don't stress this because I consider Blood Incantation do it in a unique or different way, I stress how well they do this in the track "Io" because in "Ea" they don't achieve it in the same way, the beginning is more abrupt, sonorous and dissonant, and the way the track develops is much more obvious, the changes and contrasts feel more forced and prepared. I know that ambient is not a genre where improvisation prevails a lot, but I think that a big part of the fun of this music is not knowing in which paths it is going to take you, "Ea" doesn't achieve this and I think that one of the reasons for this is the influence of the fact that they have had to divide the songs in different movements for the digital editions, This is also noticeable in "Io" but they manage to disguise it better and if one doesn't pay extreme attention it can go unnoticed, in "Ea" the changes of tone are so marked and abrupt that it's impossible not to notice them. Still it's not all bad on that track, the atmosphere that is maintained throughout the whole album is incredibly warm and charismatic, it really does sound otherworldly, it conveys a dark and astral feeling that works better the more darkness that surrounds us.

The bonus track "Chronophagia" is a much more atmospheric and ambient track, its beginning is dense and opens very slowly, by lasting twenty seven minutes Blood Incantation has much more potential to explore and really dig into the different sound universes, actually the first half of the track is very homogeneous, there is variety but it's very vague, but that also helps the senses to get lost in the music, so when the more noticeable changes come they have a greater impact, also this track has the good fortune of not being divided into different movements so the framework on which the music is built is much more constant and open to changes that happen naturally.

Even so, it is imperfect, apart from what I have emphasized there is a clear dichotomy with respect to the themes and the length of the album, if one listens to the version that does not contain the theme "Chronophagia" one is listening to an inferior version of the Ep, as this theme contains great moments and the best atmosphere created in this work, but if one listens to the version that includes this theme the work can become a little too long and therefore quite heavy, especially if it is a casual listening.

In the end this will remain more of a curiosity than anything else, it has attracted special attention for coming from one of the (if not the) most important bands in the recent metal scene, so although we will surely see Blood Incantation combining with their classic death metal this kind of ambient influences in their future works, the most this EP can aspire to is to open some people the doors to new musical horizons.

I would consider myself a fan of Blood Incantation. I’ve always loved "Starspawn" although I don’t have much patience for their subsequent album ("Hidden History of the Human Race"). That latter album seems forced and sterile, devoid in the song-writing department compared to its predecessor. Perhaps it was a case of the 'sophomore slump' that affects so many death metal bands. The further a death metal band moves away from their own fountainhead, the less interesting their death metal music is likely to be. No-one can make a long career out of death metal and maintain artistic relevance. The genre doesn’t work like that.

A band as talented as Blood Incantation was always going to recognise this and deviate from death metal at some point. There were plenty of passages in "Hidden History..." to suggest that the band wanted to go in a 'post-rock' direction eventually. I was intrigued to hear how these guys could apply themselves in that field, particularly if they could retain some of the skills honed from playing death metal. "Timewave Zero" does not represent that evolution. It is more of an interim side-step, an experiment. The band will no doubt return to death metal in future, in one form or another.

“Timewave Zero” is a series of beat-less ambient soundscapes with a ‘spacey’ theme. This is a nice, listenable record to play in the background whilst doing other mundane tasks (i.e., washing the dishes, ironing, sleeping). It borrows from the long tradition of ambient music that dates back to the early seventies (at least). Still, this is not a great ambient record. The band have based 90% of their approach on "Zeit"-era Tangerine Dream, which came out in 1972. Blood Incantation fails to capture the same malevolence and cosmic scale as the German masters. The bonus track, "Chronophagia", introduces a few melodies after about 20 minutes, more akin to acts like Rapoon and Stars of the Lid. It isn’t as good as their records either.

I guess the reason the band made this record was to keep the Blood Incantation logo fresh in poeple’s minds. Doing something like this is nowhere near as risky in the streaming era (where music is much more disposable). This record is OK for what it is. I find it to be a better and more cohesive listening experience than "Hidden History...". The question it raises is about where Blood Incantation goes next. I wonder if they will evolve some more ambient passages into their death metal pieces? That would be interesting. For now, go and listen to “Zeit” instead.

Blood Incantation needs no introduction for those who are in the modern death metal scene. Forming in 2011, the band would gain mainstream attention in 2019 with their second studio album 'Hidden History of the Human Race", which was critically acclaimed from fans and critics for being a nice blend of old school death metal acts like Morbid Angel, prog rock-esque styling influenced from Pink Floyd and Rush, and even themes of the Anunnaki Mythos being prominent in the album, especially on the 18 minute epic "Awakening from the Dream of Existence to the Multidimensional Nature of Our Reality".

So when it was time to create another release, the members of Blood Incantation shocked everyone when they announced that their next release wasn't going to include any death metal, but instead be a full-on ambient release. Eventually, it would be revealed that this new release was an EP titled "Timewave Zero", and would include only a handful of tracks that last for over 15 minutes. Now that it has released, there seems to be a divide over whether or not this EP is good. Being a big fan of ambient music myself, I can predict that even if the overall reception of this album is poor, it'll eventually gain a cult following.

What do I mean by that? Well let's look at the first song of the two on here, which is "Io". This particular track starts off strong with a droning sound that gets louder until the other synths kick in. The overall composition of the track is very slow and enduring, but the synths and keyboards that play have a calming and soft sound that sounds exceptionally fantastic when it's dragged on, especially on the first part of the track. The keyboards on the second part is my personal favorite on this track as well, since they sound deep, but also melodic, giving off an atmosphere of peace and harmony. I also love the more traditional instruments being played on the third part, as it gave the atmosphere a more archaic feeling. Io is very slow-paced, but those who have the patience to listen to it all are rewarded with hearing a mix of new-wave keyboards and ancient instruments to bring in feelings of being lost in space.

The next track, "Ea", is more or less the same as Io in terms of its slow composition, but the tone of that track is noticeably different. From the first synths that play, we can already infer that the vibe of this track is gonna be more somber and depressing, since the synths on the first part sound more deep and weak. The atmosphere on this track is actually slightly better on here than in the previous track, since the mood feels a bit more sincere and direct. The third part on this track in particular is probably my favorite moment on this EP. It mixes the new-wave synths with the traditional instruments, which both flow together to create a feeling of sadness and nostalgia, which works beautifully. My only slight complaint on this track is that while the atmosphere on Ea is great, it kind of gets a little weak on the fourth part. Not that it's bad or anything, but it doesn't have the same momentum as the earlier parts. Otherwise, Ea is also another strong track that has an emotional and epic atmosphere.

So overall, I thought this EP was pretty great. The synths and keyboards sound nice, the traditional instruments also work with the more vintage sound, and the atmosphere on both tracks are executed well. The EP has just came out, and the reception so far is a bit mixed, but I have a feeling that people are gonna have a lot more appreciation of this EP in the future. It's unknown where the band's gonna go from here, and while I'm sure they're gonna release another death metal album in the future, at the same time, I also won't mind them continuing to experiment in the ambient genre.