I finally got my hands on the new Blood Incantation album Absolute Elsewhere yesterday. I had ordered the deluxe box set and the supplier I used kept putting the shipping date back so had to cancel and get one on eBay before they all vanished.
First few listens and it’s a pretty stupendous mix of Morbid Angel style death and spacey, melodic prog. And the production is wonderfully warm and natural. It’s also got the Luminescent Bridge EP, a documentary, the soundtrack to the documentary and a cool book too. Could be an album of the year contender although it would be up against another recent purchase: Doedsmaghird’s Omniverse Consciousness. An offshoot of avant black metallers Dødheimsgard, this is like a grimmer companion piece to that band’s excellent 2023 album Black Medium Current. But also quite similar too, so if you loved that album then you need this.
While I’m on the topic of album of the year contenders I have to mention Deep Purple’s =1 which continues the band’s remarkably creative and fresh late stage. It’s a bit overlong but emotionally it’s been the standout of the year and kicked off a huge Deep Purple binge and a reappraisal of some of their later albums that I’d not given enough time to. Now What?! in particular has become a new favourite, up there with the band’s very best work.
And I can’t sign off without saluting ex-Iron Maiden vocalist Paul Di’Anno who has passed away aged 66. I never followed his career post-Maiden to be honest, but his work on those indispensable first two albums is more than enough to put him in the HMO Hall Of Fame.
HEAVY METAL OVERLOAD 
Many of us are likewise impressed by =1. I am very happy with it. As for Paul, it was at least a pleasure to revisit all his Maiden stuff this past week. A lot of listening was done.
Yesterday I was oot and aboot and found Whitesnake’s Still Good to Be Bad box set for %40 off, so that was my win.
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That’s a good price for that set.
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Pretty cool when a band puts out a new album like DP considering they have been around for 5 decades and it makes you visit there recent back catalogue.
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The Blood Incantation album is a real contender for my fave LP of the year too. If only they were more crushingly earnest all the time though …
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They’ll only achieve greatness when they learn how to light their own farts and stuff like that.
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Plus they need to shave more often
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The new Deep Purple album is fantastic! I do agree that it has a couple too many songs, but the songs that do work, work well. ‘Now What?!’ is also really good too!
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I think all the songs are good, just too many for an album though. They should keep stuff for EPs or whatever.
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Don’t get me wrong, nothing wrong with long albums, but sometimes shorter albums will do the trick!
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